Being Raised by the Internet

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

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.