The internet – not as great as we all thought it was going to be, eh?

Re: I'm sympathetic

Yes, that's likely true -- but the issue with trolls, etc., is easy to handle (just don't go to the sites where they are a problem), so my gut tells me that there must be more to this than just that.

It isn't always that easy. Trolls aren't all shouty, racist, stereotypes. Those are easy to avoid. But on many mainstream, moderated forums, there are a selection of people who appear to have a whole lot of time on their hands, who are opinionated, borderline rude, sad-sacks who can't accept any view that differs from their own, regardless of the experience and qualification of other posters. By remaining within the forum guidelines, and often adopting a passive-aggressive method of communication, they shout down alternative views. Often they'll be obsessed about one or two particular issues, even if they actually know little about them.

To more robust individuals with a good view of how the internet works, these people are simply ill informed gob shites, who can only be dealt with by ignoring them. But for the majority of internet users, these people are intimidating bullies. In the UK we've had publicly funded schemes to get more of the elderly online (fuck knows why), but that introduces a lot of the people who fall into the opinionated bully camp due to time on their hands and deteriorating social skills, and introduces many more who fall into the role of "victim of opinionated bullies" because they don't understand that posting on the internet is shouting to the world, not a front room conversation with like minded friends.

I've seen this with my own elderly parents - with time on their hands they read a lot, they read the comments, they want to join in the debate, they join in, but they can't understand the minority of unpleasant, persistent, hectoring responses they then get to posts that really ought to be innocuous. The only solution I can see (when hell freezes over) is to introduce a universal block button, that enables a user to block a particular poster's responses and sub-threads, as well as blocking that poster from seeing comments (and subsequent sub-threads) that are made by the original poster.

Re: I'm sympathetic

Yes, that's likely true -- but the issue with trolls, etc., is easy to handle (just don't go to the sites where they are a problem)

This isn't true any more.

Usenet was public space; forums were private space paid for by individuals or small groups. They policed themselves, and they had to get the balance right. Too little policing and you got swamped; too much, and you got abandoned.

The net is now run by for-profit companies who are simply not taking responsibility for policing the space that they own. There's no longer anywhere for regular people to go. We nerds are ok because - and only because - we know where to look.

Re: I'm sympathetic

Of course, one way of moderating a forum is to just leave someone's posts in the 'submitted and awaiting moderation' queue for over 5 hours.

Not that I'm airing a grievance in public or anything.

If there's nothing nefarious going on and you're actually just still down the pub, then fine.

Re: I'm sympathetic

My prediction for the internet services above the TCP/IP transport layer is that it will become essentially what interactive cable always wanted to be.

WILL U B ABLE 2 GET IT ON WEBTV

Re: an entirely new network?

"Really, I'd be on board with someone building an entirely new network,"

Been watching Silicon Valley, have you? I think it paints a pretty accurate picture. There will never be a "new" Internet any more than there'll be a "new" road system

It seems it's the World Wide Web that's gone downhill. Like a failing Mall - or more like a huge Mega Global Hypermarket, which sounded really exciting when you first heard they were building one in your town, but after initial Wow! died down, you realised it was chock full of dour sales assistants named Manny or Chuck that followed you round at your shoulder all the time either in case you stole something or trying to suggest things you might like to buy, and you were never sure which. To add injury to insult, you caught something in their poorly cleaned lavs.

Maybe, if there's a not-http protocol, and we could convince the useful bit of the current web to move there and ban any base commerce.

Financing might be a problem though, it might have to be scaled way back and peer to peer.

If it's got no images, only text, the ad slingers will be harder pressed in infiltrate it.

Re: an entirely new network?

"Expect change to continue"

I just hope that future changes will be good changes, unlike so many that have happened over the past few years.

@Jamie

ah yes, my first email address was big endian too, and we used Vax/VMS and CBS. We didn't have our own Internet mail relay at that point though, so relayed through The University of Nottingham. Just took three levels of encapsulation to route through them and out to the internet ; -)

Everything is "different" while only a narrowly specialized class of people has access to it. Once everyone is allowed in, anyone expecting things to not change (and keep changing) is a damn fool; the second factor being the initial novelty and, yes, clueless innocence washing fast away - noble ideals may get the first drop on a new thing, but given some time human nature takes over.

And I'm saying that not in support of the idea of keeping "hoi polloi" out - on the contrary, I absolutely think it would be unconscionable to do so, especially just to have ageing early adopters having their fond memories unsullied; but giving access to the whole of humanity to something and then expecting it not to change to reflect that is seriously unrealistic. Especially considering I tend to swear at least as much myself as the the next guy. And quite possibly more...

He were lucky...