The internet is already over (2022)

Article style and argument quality

• Many enjoyed the essay’s “sparkling” prose and found it one of the best things they’d read recently.
• Others saw it as over-dramatic, meandering, or nihilistic, with weak or unsubstantiated arguments wrapped in flashy rhetoric.
• Some dissected specific claims (e.g., “easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of the internet”) as confused, poorly defined, or attacking strawmen.

Is the internet “over” or just changing?

• One camp: the “old internet” spirit has largely died; public spaces feel enshittified, commercialized, and numbing.
• Counterpoint: the internet itself isn’t ending; it’s evolving. Private chats, Discords, niche forums, and small blogs now host much of the interesting activity.
• Several argue the essay mistakes decline of public social media and open-web spaces for the death of “being online.”

Nostalgia for the old web vs the “small web”

• Many long-time users miss the 90s/early-2000s era: smaller, geekier communities, more shared cultural references, easier sense of belonging.
• Others note that tastes and shared references naturally change with generations; some of the nostalgia is just aging.
• Multiple links and projects are shared around “small web” / IndieWeb-style discovery, personal blogs, and non-commercial search engines as proof that the old spirit persists off the mainstream platforms.

Commercialization, engagement, and burnout

• Strong consensus that ad-driven business models and growth-at-all-costs incentives have degraded user experience: recommendation slop, manipulative design, content optimized for metrics not value.
• Some frame this as a business-cycle arms race: early high-ROI phase → overcrowding → scams/manipulation → user burnout and pullback.
• Several describe personal disengagement from big platforms, smartphones, or algorithmic feeds, citing mental health, privacy, and reputational concerns.

Public vs private, openness vs fragmentation

• Shift observed from open forums and blogs to semi-private silos (Discord, Slack, Telegram).
• Pros: higher signal-to-noise, easier moderation, more safety.
• Cons: knowledge becomes fragmented and non-searchable; undermines early promises of an open, globally accessible web.
• Debate over whether smaller, semi-gated communities betray or actually preserve the original ideals.

AI, spam, and future trajectories

• Some note the essay predated the current AI wave; others cite newer essays and videos connecting AI to accelerated spam and “dead internet” dynamics.
• Opinions split between AI as another tool to fight enshittification (e.g., better filtering) and as a force that will flood the web with synthetic content and make public spaces unusable.