Is the Internet changing or are we just getting old?
Marvin Meyer / Unsplash

Is the Internet changing or are we just getting old?

I started writing this article in January and never published; some conversations in recent days prompted me to revisit it. Now, there's a whole other discussion about what our digital world means for forging new connections IRL — we are, objectively, not that great at it anymore. But that's a separate article.

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In December, Max Read proclaimed what many in my generation have meme'd about for years: Millennials are getting old. And not just because we have back pain now, or need recovery days (yes, that's plural) from a night out. No; it's because we're no longer the dominant force on the Internet.

And it's true — Gen Z and even Gen Alpha are shaping online culture, as I realize every time I see It Girls I don't recognize in NYLON or articles about slang like "gyat." The dawning awareness that Millennials embody the "how do you do, fellow kids?" gif is upsetting, but it's also something previous generations have had to grapple with in their ways. It starts with unfamiliar guests on late-night TV and continues with Super Bowl halftime shows that seem almost too appealing. This is a natural progression. (Gen Z and Gen Alpha, it will happen to you, too.)

Except.

This evolution occurs as social media goes through its awkward years. Twitter (er, X) is almost at legal voting age. Facebook recently hit 20. Instagram is a precocious 13-year-old. It feels as if these platforms have existed for eons, but they haven't. As Millennials, we've experienced several iterations of each of them, and it's not immediately clear what comes next.

Because of that, it's easy to paint social media dissatisfaction as a generational issue. Jason Parham posits in Wired that at least part of this feeling that "the party is over" is because my age group has been here for a long time. We're tired and not sure we want to stay on the digital hamster wheel.

But it's not just Millennials who are posting less or looking to disconnect. The social media environment has legitimately changed, and we're all trying to figure out what that means and how to scratch the itch for connection. I don't think it's an accident that Gen Z is embracing LinkedIn, for example; this platform (yes, I know I'm biased; and for the record, this article is purely my own opinion and not associated with my job) feels like a safe space to be celebratory and sincere — a rarity on the Internet in 2024.

However, if there is a philosophy that underpins my worldview, it's this: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That's particularly true when it comes to human motivations. We're social beings and we seek to build relationships. The mechanisms may morph, but the fundamental need doesn't go away. Indeed, the desire to connect shoots up through today's social media landscape like weeds through concrete; while the average person may post less publicly, DMs and private group messages thrive. We're consuming content from creators, brands, personalities and then sending them to all our friends on the side. Jokes abound about "friend homework," the daily collection of posts in our Instagram inboxes to review. How did we nurture friendships before we sent each other memes? I barely remember.

Do I think the titans of the present will stay at the top of the social media food chain? Maybe, maybe not. But the need they serve has changed since those early years. They're not just about community; they're also about entertainment, or, more broadly, consumption. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X and the rest aren't just replacing the town square, they're replacing TV. And the fourth wall broke long ago.

That's not a bad thing, it's just different. Ellis Hamburger wrote in the Verge about the challenge of social-network growth — the tension between a platform that effectively captures community dynamics and one that scales and generates revenue. While that tension certainly exists, I don't think those elements are mutually exclusive. I also don't think adjusting to scale necessitates a fall after an early rise. What we're looking for in social media is different now, and we've moved from a world in which platforms like "TheFacebook" were novel to one in which digital communities are a way of life.

That does leave space for new platforms, although — like I said — the more things change, the more they stay the same. Is it a coincidence that Discord and Slack bear a resemblance to AOL chatrooms? Or that TikTok is releasing a photo-sharing app? The mechanisms for building relationships online may evolve, but there are some core components to how we connect that stay constant.

The Internet is changing, but it also... isn't. Because people are always going to want to connect to each other, and this series of tubes is still a great tool to do that.

Elizabeta Filipova

English teacher at Tode Hadzi Tefov Primary School

7mo

Yes, we change to adapt to social media. I am a teacher, and as a part of my professional development, I've learned that we should prepare well to prepare Generation Beta for the future jobs that don't even exist now. We all have our professional networks on as many social medias as we can. This will never stop, we learn and grow by using social media. I believe it will be easier to the new generations to create or find communities to share their ideas with likeminded people. AI will revolutionize social media and people will use it even more and more.

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Andrew Bolis

AI & Marketing Consultant 🚀 $190M in Attributed Revenue 📢 Former CMO 📈 I help companies leverage AI to optimize their marketing and sales.

7mo

Our innate need for connection remains constant, Katie Carroll

If you haven’t already read Marie Le Conte’s book on the internet growing up alongside us, Escape, then I very much recommend. Makes this point at some detail.

Myles Moscato

Producer @ HotBox Films

7mo

The security preferences have been insane. Every time I log into Amazon, it's like send a secret code to my phone and then go fuck yourself later because we're going to do this every time you have to log in. I wonder if people are paranoid about Russian hackers or if the intensified security is actually there to make you feel like the product you are buying is better than the other one. Also the Facebook was way better before they started shoving advertisements in your face based on "private" conversations you were having

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Guy Christopher Carter

Historical Theologian | Worker in Refugee Resettlement #WomanLifeFreedom

7mo

Yes, it is and we are.

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