I Miss the Old Internet (2019)
I think it&#x27;s easy to forget we&#x27;re not the same people we were 20-25 years ago. I see all sorts of lamentations about various things in the world changing and becoming less magical. But as far as I&#x27;m aware, I could still go and argue about bands in chatrooms. I could talk to other writers and dream about my future best-selling novels. I could go read random opinions about any subject and get into an exhilarating flamewar about it.<p>I don&#x27;t want to do any of those things. I&#x27;m in my 40s and I have 3 kids. The internet 15-year-old me experienced was magical because _I_ was a blank slate. Every new friendship was thrilling, every new skill opened up infinite horizons, every nook and cranny felt like somewhere I could belong. But life moves on. I&#x27;m more than half-way through my career, perhaps not the one I was expecting. I didn&#x27;t marry the girl I met on IRC. I don&#x27;t have strong opinions about Radiohead anymore. I find people, however delightful and kooky they are, quite tiring having got to know 10,000 of them at this point.<p>I know all this is true because my kids love the internet and find their place in it with all the joy I used to. And I&#x27;m pretty sure older generations frowning upon it all is part of the rush anyway.