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Out of context: Reply #75929

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  • Horp21

    Nairn's blog about a quarter of a century of QBN has given me a touch of the melancholy.

    We're (broadly, some of us) the only generation that knew and operated in a world before the www, before groups, before forums, before social media, before digital on demand. We've experienced the entire arc from zero to the peak and now down the other side.

    The amount of change in that time is phenomenal. I started off using whatever Yahoo Groups was before it became Yahoo Groups. I'd guess that was 1997.

    Now I think even the big powerful social media brands/platforms are slowly losing cultural relevance. They're still huge, still being used by very large numbers of people... but what they can do is limited by what they are and we all get tired of the media eventually. They aren't inherently exciting anymore. We know what we're going to get.

    There was a time when it was all so fascinating that I was in danger of losing purchase on real world obligations due to a constant burning desire to be exploring the vast possibility of online living and the new experiment in communication and discovery. All via dial-up for a very long time, and that added to the sense of adventure. The sound of jacking in to the alterverse and the fact it took time to get there. Transportative, if such a word exists.

    Now I genuinely struggle to find anything to hold my interest online. The thousands of weird, kooky, idiosyncratic websites, platforms, gatherings, experiments got funnelled into global brand platforms with nothing thrilling to offer. There is no internet anymore.

    I pick my phone up, flick on to Reddit, flick over to QBN daily, and flick onto a few news platforms, and that's it. I'm done.

    Even with QBN it now feels like it could be winding down. No fresh intake, just a dwindling circle of stalwarts who often don't even seem to enjoy each other's company.

    And me watching silently through a window, but with less enthusiasm with each passing day.

    ENTERTAIN ME, OR LOSE MY PATRONAGE FOREVER.

    Horp 21Permalink
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    • You have to wonder who will post the final post here before it's abandoned to an indifferent silence or it's taken offline by a disinterested caretaker.Horp
    • It wont be me. I never post here anymore.Horp
    • It's me, isn't it.Horp
    • i feel this tho.. for real, there was a moment when the internet was full of wonder and pushing the envelope. now its just cookie cutter content and formautoflavour
    • there must be something somewhere interesting happeningautoflavour
    • Good post. I feel this.nocomply
    • ↑ Agreed.BuddhaHat
    • '97 i was in 7th grade pirate'ing photoshop 4.0 from my computer science teacher to make quake skins :DArchitectofFate
    • And I agree, adventure is a word taught, but seldom experienced in 2025ArchitectofFate
    • I share each of your words.OBBTKN
    • i doubt it ... i would rather say theres a lot more idiosyncratic art the pushes the envelope online now... the next generation is not a let down to me...neverscared
    • i would rather say aesthetics are flying quite well and the older generation might have problems to keep up...neverscared
    • Horp. I feel this. But, come over to Discord, we've got something for you.Continuity
    • when the wireless age kicked in it was fantastic compared to before...neverscared
    • This is the last forum I follow and your post made me abit sad..its so truetony77
    • It’s settled then, we make a pact like the flying hellfish from the Simpsons. Last man standing gets the lol cube._niko
    • your post is sad but true - but I'm hooked on QBN!stoplying
    • feed or leave.sted
    • I think we're all in the same boat (as usual). I've decided that this is my mystical era. I've embraced the 'old man' status myself. Ride the wave. Let go.misterhow
    • "I genuinely struggle to find anything to hold my interest online" < the entire post is about why qbn isn't that place anymore.sted
    • and i hope you might be able to have conversations, and perhaps even arguments, with people you don't particularly like.sted
    • QBN has special dogmatic intensity that has allowed it to last. Good or bad most of the conversations have effort put into them. Laziness is not tolerated.slappy
    • Your post is an example of why I still come here, probably the best thing I will read today, thanks.slappy
    • MAKE QBN GREAT AGAINautoflavour
    • fucking oath. or as us aussies say. 'ken oath.ephix
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