Being Raised by the Internet
Growing up online can be a lifeline as much as a hazard: many commenters describe escaping poverty, isolation, or abusive homes thanks to free tutorials, open‑source communities, and early web forums that gave them skills, friendships, and a sense of agency. Others contrast that formative experience with today’s internet, dominated by social media feeds, ad‑driven platforms, and soon AI chatbots, which they fear encourage passivity, addiction, and weaker real‑world social ties. Across differing views on social welfare, parenting, and culture, a common thread is gratitude for the old “gift economy” of the web — and concern over whether similar opportunities and communities still exist for the next generation.
Positive “raised by the internet” experiences
- Many commenters from rural or difficult backgrounds say the early internet gave them:
- Access to like‑minded people they’d never meet locally.
- Long‑lasting friendships formed in MUDs, RPGs, MMOs, IRC, forums, etc., often enduring decades, sometimes without ever meeting in person.
- Exposure to other countries and cultures that made them feel like “world citizens” and more empathetic.
- A path into computing careers via tutorials, Linux docs, and collaborative projects.
How internet communities changed
- Early forums, BBSes, MUDs, and small boards felt like “small towns”:
- Pseudonymous but persistent identity; you had to behave or be ostracized.
- Strong sense of community and reputation.
- Modern large platforms (Reddit, social feeds) feel:
- Faceless, low‑accountability, and transient, with weaker personal bonds.
- Less suited to teaching empathy and cooperation than small, stable groups.
- Some note games like WoW or long‑running guilds taught social skills, versus throwaway FPS lobbies focused on trash talk.
Poverty, support, and agency
- A long subthread debates what help is realistically available to poor or abused kids:
- Some insist children in survival mode have almost no agency to “seek a way out” beyond coping (e.g., diving into computers).
- Others, especially from Europe, describe hotlines and stronger welfare systems and struggle to grasp US gaps in social safety nets.
- Multiple commenters argue that outsiders underestimate how different US poverty is, and that asking “why didn’t they just…?” reflects deep misunderstanding.
- Tension appears between:
- Seeing the author as building real agency via technical problem‑solving.
- Concern that it’s unfair to expect minors to find systemic or psychological help online.
Gift economy, mentoring, and open knowledge
- Several self‑taught developers credit:
- Tutorials, mailing lists, free software, and generous strangers with enabling their careers and even “saving” them.
- Older contributors say they consciously wrote docs and shared code hoping to uplift unknown kids.
- There is nostalgia for the “gift economy” internet, contrasted with today’s ad‑driven, scraped‑for‑AI landscape.
- Some ex‑maintainers describe burnout and hostility (e.g., license fights, accusations) pushing them away from open source.
Risks and downsides of being raised online
- Others report:
- Picking up rage, cynicism, and poor IRL social skills from toxic IRC/board cultures.
- Addiction to instant gratification and difficulty doing things alone.
- Concern that modern “raised by internet” mostly means algorithmic feeds, social media, and 4chan‑style spaces, not learning Linux.
- Several worry that contemporary kids with phones get:
- Hyper‑optimized attention traps rather than exploratory, text‑heavy learning.
- Less room for “healthy” tinkering due to locked‑down devices.
LLMs, chatbots, and the next generation
- Some predict many children and adults will be “raised by chatbots”:
- Using them for advice and emotional support instead of people.
- Raising questions about privacy, training on intimate logs, and eventual use by companies or law enforcement.
- Opinions differ on whether LLMs will improve access to learning or mainly provide false confidence and shallow reasoning.