Remember to have fun on the internet

I want you to know that you too can make new programs which create new fun ways of using computers and using the Internet.


I want you to realize that, if you can imagine a computer doing something, you can program a computer to do that.


– Tim Berners-Lee

What a fantastic sentiment. It got me thinking back to my first experiences with the Interent. My first website was a Age of Empires fansite believe it or not. I wish I had a screenshot.

There’s nothing like a bit of nostalgia, the internet of the 90s/ 00s has it in spades. Whether it’s the aesthetics, those under construction gifs, or someone’s personal website on Geocitis about their neopet; it was an intensely interesing space.

Discussion about the early internet tends to focus on the gifs, fonts, marquee tags etc, the visual artefacts of that era. However I think the main difference is that we’ve forgotten to have fun. Only a small fraction of the web create their own online spaces and post long-form content on topics they are passionate about. The majority of content is designed to capture the fleeting attention span of someone scrolling their social media feed, or tailored to entice you to click a link.

I believe the nostalgic internet of the past still exists, it’s just a little harder to find. Look for people having fun on the internet; you probably won’t find them on social media.