Old Web: Aesthetic Fetishization - The fetishizing of the old Internet by people who would have lobbied to get it taken down/censored during that era.

[Edgelord Vampire]

Over the years, I have seen a growing number of people claiming to love/miss the Old Web, yet from their behavior it's clear that they would have wanted the Internet nuked or heavily censored back during the 90's/2000's.

Like yes, I too miss the aesthetics and decentralization of the Old Web. I do also miss the culture, for better or worse; which is why I'm personally annoyed with this phenomenon.

The co-opting of aesthetics while ignoring the actual meat of sub-cultures has always annoyed me, and this particular one has mostly reared its head around the same time as the Emo/Scene "revival" that does the same shit--and while I can sperg about that all day, that's for another time.

TL;DR: I'm tired of weak bitches and their fake nostalgia for a time/culture they would have hated and wanted destroyed.

 

[Common Carp]

While a I agree with your sentiment it's not exactly shocking this is happening. The 1980s vaporwave shit and the analogue VHS shit are also examples of this. Younger people who never truely experienced those times finding the surface level aesthetics of those times appealing and adopting it like a fashon trend. Being "retro" will always attract a certain kind of poser, like those who adopted the punk look while not having the punk attitude. Expect a lot more Y2K/2000s pandering in the future.

This shit comes in waves, older folk having nostalgia for it and younger folk taking a liking to the aesthetics. I shudder to think what it will look like in the 2030s when 2010s nostalgia becomes a thing. Hell I'm already seeing people be nostalgic for the 2010-2016 era.

 

[Edgelord Vampire]

While a I agree with your sentiment it's not exactly shocking this is happening. The 1980s vaporwave shit and the analogue VHS shit are also examples of this. Younger people who never truely experienced those times finding the surface level aesthetics of those times appealing and adopting it like a fashon trend. Being "retro" will always attract a certain kind of poser, like those who adopted the punk look while not having the punk attitude. Expect a lot more Y2K/2000s pandering in the future.

This shit comes in waves, older folk having nostalgia for it and younger folk taking a liking to the aesthetics. I shudder to think what it will look like in the 2030s when 2010s nostalgia becomes a thing. Hell I'm already seeing people be nostalgic for the 2010-2016 era.

Oh yeah, I know it's not new, this is the example I'm using cuz I've properly experienced it; too young to have been around for OG "Vaporwave" for example.
I love retro stuff from before my time but I at least try to properly learn about it and my hopelessly optimistic ass wishes others would have the same respect (dumb of me, I know LOL).
The fake punks are another that drive me nuts--mostly because modern "punks" are absolutely insufferably smug.
Yeahh I do expect that, I just gotta sperg about it every now and then LMAO

Ughh same..the bit I have seen already makes me stir crazy as it is. There are a few things I miss from the 10s, mostly the early years, but yeesh.

 

[Harvey Danger]

We have the perfect thread for you: Neocities and the Yesterweb - The Second Coming of Tumblr

Through the lens of that thread's discussion, it seems to be a combination of legitimate nostalgia and the typical Tumblr audience's jumping onto a bandwagon. Nostalgia is harmless enough, but you can't recreate social norms and cultures on your own; you can only recreate its appearance. That leaves it susceptible to infiltration by the crowd who make everything all about themselves, instead of about actual reverence for the thing being celebrated.

 

[Edgelord Vampire]

We have the perfect thread for you: Neocities and the Yesterweb - The Second Coming of Tumblr

Through the lens of that thread's discussion, it seems to be a combination of legitimate nostalgia and the typical Tumblr audience's jumping onto a bandwagon. Nostalgia is harmless enough, but you can't recreate social norms and cultures on your own; you can only recreate its appearance. That leaves it susceptible to infiltration by the crowd who make everything all about themselves, instead of about actual reverence for the thing being celebrated.

Oh shit, I will definitely check that thread out, thank you!

And you hit the nail right on the head there.

 

[Gan Ying]

I don't blame them, if only because everything now looks insanely boring. Flat white/dark grey UIs on literally everything, and logos that were made in 30 seconds in MS Word. There's not really any other net aesthetic to look back to either.

 

[Common Carp]

Oh yeah, I know it's not new, this is the example I'm using cuz I've properly experienced it; too young to have been around for OG "Vaporwave" for example.
I love retro stuff from before my time but I at least try to properly learn about it and my hopelessly optimistic ass wishes others would have the same respect (dumb of me, I know LOL).
The fake punks are another that drive me nuts--mostly because modern "punks" are absolutely insufferably smug.
Yeahh I do expect that, I just gotta sperg about it every now and then LMAO

Ughh same..the bit I have seen already makes me stir crazy as it is. There are a few things I miss from the 10s, mostly the early years, but yeesh.

I do get it, it can be very annoying seeing people take something and adopting it without truely "getting" it. You gotta learn how to seperate the posers from those who actually give a crap. A good chunk of people only give a shit about fitting in and will take the path of least resistance to appear "hip" and "cool". Past a certain point you learn to ignore it. And personally I wouldn't mind 2000s aesthetics coming back into style as it at least had some flare in it's look. Everything is so flat and lifeless these days, the "oversimplified logo" meme existed for a reason. Even if we're not getting the culture back I'll take everything not looking so damn soulless.

 

[Edgelord Vampire]

I don't blame them, if only because everything now looks insanely boring. Flat white/dark grey UIs on literally everything, and logos that were made in 30 seconds in MS Word. There's not really any other net aesthetic to look back to either.

I don't either to that extent, I hate modern web design as well.
I simply find it frustrating how it's been taken over by people who 100% would have wanted the Internet destroyed back in the 90's/2000's because it wasn't a stifled "safe space" for them.

 

[Edgelord Vampire]

I do get it, it can be very annoying seeing people take something and adopting it without truely "getting" it. You gotta learn how to seperate the posers from those who actually give a crap. A good chunk of people only give a shit about fitting in and will take the path of least resistance to appear "hip" and "cool". Past a certain point you learn to ignore it. And personally I wouldn't mind 2000s aesthetics coming back into style as it at least had some flare in it's look. Everything is so flat and lifeless these days, the "oversimplified logo" meme existed for a reason. Even if we're not getting the culture back I'll take everything not looking so damn soulless.

Very good point, and I would love to see the old looks come back again too.

 

[Gan Ying]

I don't either to that extent, I hate modern web design as well.
I simply find it frustrating how it's been taken over by people who 100% would have wanted the Internet destroyed back in the 90's/2000's because it wasn't a stifled "safe space" for them.

I get you, but things that are good are gonna attract all kinds of people, including people you hate. I assume you're mostly talking about troons being overrepresented in niche interests like this, and that's just unavoidable considering 80% of troons are autistic nerds.

 

[Edgelord Vampire]

I get you, but things that are good are gonna attract all kinds of people, including people you hate. I assume you're mostly talking about troons being overrepresented in niche interests like this, and that's just unavoidable considering 80% of troons are autistic nerds.

Nah you right.
And yeah troons play a big part LOL

 

[Gan Ying]

Nah you right.
And yeah troons play a big part LOL

Don't let them break you bro. If you're enjoying a thing you like and can't stop thinking about how troons enjoy it too, you're only helping them push you out of the hobby.

 

[Smoltine Kiminal]

yet from their behavior it's clear that they would have wanted the Internet nuked or heavily censored back during the 90's/2000's.

no they wouldnt, because if they lived back then they would be far less retarded, at least most of them
imagine what growing up with facebook does to a child, its abusive
they cant even be edgy teens, because they gonna get instabanned
if your in reality you can at worst be beat up for being edgy, but they cant stop the edge
now the only way to be edgy without being banned is being a trannyfaggot

I shudder to think what it will look like in the 2030s when 2010s nostalgia becomes a thing.

now imagine how shit the world has to become for 2020's nostalgia to become a thing

 

[Merton J. Dingle]

Let's not forget that the old web was not devoid of censorship, even if it was nowhere near as bad as it is today. GameFAQs' forums were pretty old web in retrospect and its mods were practically the progenitors to Reddit's jannies. And an aspect of the old web that doesn't get talked about as much is the old normie web. That is, sites that fell outside of the gaming/SA inspired sites that I'm sure many of us frequented in the 2000s. Those normie old web sites typically didn't allow people to say "nigger" or "faggot" any more than normie sites today. Really, it feels like that there was a certain sort of youth culture on the web in the 2000s that culminated in 4chan, before gradually fading away in the 2010s, all the while the normie web declined into the miserable state that it is in today.

 

[Smoltine Kiminal]

I don't blame them, if only because everything now looks insanely boring. Flat white/dark grey UIs on literally everything, and logos that were made in 30 seconds in MS Word. There's not really any other net aesthetic to look back to either.

i think its not just the design, but also the options that go with it
on a pc you could install whatever you wanted, do whatever you wanted, the settings menu had actual settings
but now consumer devices are locked down, people install programs they call "apps" that are small webbrowsers limited to a single website
the facebook website browser comes preinstalled on every phone, and you have to install a custom os so your able to remove it

 

[Smoltine Kiminal]

Let's not forget that the old web was not devoid of censorship, even if it was nowhere near as bad as it is today. GameFAQs' forums were pretty old web in retrospect and its mods were practically the progenitors to Reddit's jannies. And an aspect of the old web that doesn't get talked about as much is the old normie web. That is, sites that fell outside of the gaming/SA inspired sites that I'm sure many of us frequented in the 2000s. Those normie old web sites typically didn't allow people to say "nigger" or "faggot" any more than normie sites today. Really, it feels like that there was a certain sort of youth culture on the web in the 2000s that culminated in 4chan, before gradually fading away in the 2010s, all the while the normie web declined into the miserable state that it is in today.

up until current year +1 the comment section of every major news site was filled with angry boomers calling immigrants lazy niggers that should drown in the sea

 

[Merton J. Dingle]

up until current year +1 the comment section of every major news site was filled with angry boomers calling immigrants lazy niggers that should drown in the sea

But did they really use the word "nigger"?

 

[Smoltine Kiminal]

But did they really use the word "nigger"?

no, of course not, they used sandnigger, mudslime, towelhead, hadschies, terrorists, shitskin, jihadis, rapists, murderers, invaders, goatfuckers, camelherders ...
after they where censored for that they used goldpieces and doctors & engineers instead

idk but being called nigger is harmless compared to be called rapist

 

[Edgelord Vampire]

no they wouldnt, because if they lived back then they would be far less retarded, at least most of them
imagine what growing up with facebook does to a child, its abusive
they cant even be edgy teens, because they gonna get instabanned
if your in reality you can at worst be beat up for being edgy, but they cant stop the edge
now the only way to be edgy without being banned is being a trannyfaggot

now imagine how shit the world has to become for 2020's nostalgia to become a thing

Honestly a really good point, I haven't thought of it that way.
I tend to forget that people then were more sane, at least outwardly for the most part than they are now.
Agreed, raising children on the Internet is abusive and I despise the parents that do that shit.
Which is a shame cuz that's a normal part of growth but it's being stunted by weak-willed fags.

I mean people already have nostalgia for the covid lockdown...which is horrifying in of itself.

 

[Male Idiot]

I thought this would be about conservatives who cheer on internet censorship when it is animu weeb cringe but seethe about not being able to post on reddit "Trump kill all niggers" and get jannied and yet cheer on every digital ID law the UK shits out naively thinking it will only ever target leftists.

Same is true for leftists who wanted to metoo cancel everyone they dislike. Now they got it, and guess what, Trunp can sue back. Sue harded. Big beautiful lawsuit. Oh now that they are getting cancelled it is bad kek.