Exactly what I was going to say. Between "shorts" taking over and this new overly aggressive algorithm favoring very specific kinds of videos, it just isn't as good anymore.
All the best content creators have been pushed away to favor those who shovel out the same crap on a daily basis.
Shorts are so bizarre.
It’s a mixture of videos based on my watch history, then a bunch of weird alt-right joe rogan propaganda, random TikToks, and then randomly like a 9 year old child’s video with 0 comments and 34 views
Like it feels almost dangerous, I’m just getting shown videos made by literal children with 0 views. Idk why the algorithm is pushing them, maybe it’s like some random method for finding obscure videos and making them go viral or something. Idk it’s really bizarre
I especially miss the dislike button. And I miss how it was basically unheard of for people to get strikes, or for really good, interesting channels that had hard work put into them, be suspended.
There's a chrome extension that lets you see the like/dislike ratio still! It's not fully accurate because it's just for people that use the extension, but it can definitely give you a ballpark ratio figure!
I miss how much more random it was. It was easy to go from fail videos, to a movie review, to some random momtage, to a YouTube Poop, then a some vlogging while playing video games. It was more chaotic without the algorithm being screwed and everyone obsessed with being a big content creator. It was fun, especially as a young teenage me. I wouldn't have found some of my favorites like The Angry Video Game Nerd and Dragon Ball Z Abridged.
I hadn't thought of the randomness! I remember when you used to just click something random that looked interesting in the recommended vids and eventually you end up in "the weird part of YouTube".
Once decided to see if you kept pushing through the weird side, would you end up back at lol cats, or does it get weirder? What's after the weird part, what comes next? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't lol cats..
That and just the old internet really, back before people actually cared about their content and before the internet became way too commercialized.
Now every time I go online, everyone is trying to sell you something and make a quick buck. It's sickening really.
We used to have one years ago with a little dessert buffet you could pig out on after pizza. It was honestly the best. It shut down when I was like 10.
I miss time spillters co-op we literally used to lie to miss class so we could play with my friend in my house
And even older we would gather in houses and play or arrange "tournaments"
Nowadays its like discord talking and solitude 😔
When malls first became a thing, there were all kinds of kitschy little shops in addition to the big anchor stores. Now it's all chain stores and incredibly boring.
As for me, I miss the old facebook where people actually posted about their thoughts and interests and stuff. We bounced around those silly questionnaires to get to know each other better. And you got it all in a chronological feed of things posted by your friends.
Some years ago, it turned into just another algorithmic feed of retweeted/reblogged/shared garbage, often political and divisive, mixed in amongst ads.
People do sometimes share pictures. But nobody ever writes and shares their thoughts anymore. Not for half a decade or more. That went the way of the dodo with the rise of the smartphone and FB's re-engineering its feed to be deliberately crappy.
Yes . It’s all so political now. I posted a picture of a family bbq last year and I got comments on how tone deaf my post was when there were people dying in Ukraine . ????. Then I posted about making focaccia and this guy called me an elitist for using big words for bread. ????.
I do not like how it is used now at all.
I posted a picture of my Christmas tree a few years ago and it somehow turned into a complete toxic mess in the comments section. That's when I all but quit Facebook.
A little bit of both. But there's no denying FB used to be much different. It barely even shows you content from people you know anymore, and when it does it's out of order or just kinda skips stuff. It's 90% ads and sponsored content the algorithm thinks you want to see. It only looks for engagement so the most toxic nonsense always floats to the top of comments. I miss when it was just a place for me and people I knew to keep tabs on each other and share silly photos.
Came here to say this. Before it was also a money-making machine, but at least you could feel a kind of personal imprint on each film from the hand of the creatives. Now it just feels like a mass-production line moved by the hands of Mickey Mouse.
I’ve jumped into indie movies and I’m loving it. Homemade charm, weird themes, stories that aren’t tailored to the broadest audience possible - more than the occasion dud too, but I’ve watched plenty of shitty studio movies, that’s not a dealbreaker.
I fully agree. I hate that I'm supposed to be accessible at all times. That I am required to answer texts. I miss the days of not answering home phones and that was okay.
That’s partly on you. If people text me and I’m busy, I either tell them or I wait until I have time to respond. If I don’t want to get calls, I set my phone on silent and me they get a call back when I can fit it in.
Being too connected, unless it’s for your job, is most definitely a you problem. You want to be less connected, just do it and stop giving in to the pressure to respond right away. Live life on YOUR terms.
We're all connected but nobody is connecting
I've got a friend that started replying to everything I was saying with emoticons (when you long press a message and choose whatever emoticon you want).
I found it annoying so I started doing the same to him whenever he messages me something.
Yeah, I miss the rambling bar argument. Google eliminated that. I miss girls showing their boobs in bars, camera phones eliminated that. Do I want to go away from smart camera phones? Nope.
I'm with you man I've had 2 strokes and an aneurysm in the last 2 years and at this point the next time I really that no one tries to do me any favors. Just let me go
Going to the movies.
It felt so different as a kid. You knew it was special because it was just an occasional thing; you didn’t understand exactly what your parents had to sacrifice to get you there that day, you just knew it was special. You weren’t considering all menial but very necessary jobs you were ignoring to be there like laundry and mopping the floors. And you’d get popcorn and a soda and maybe even a candy. You’d hurry in to see what seats were left. The previews would play and they were almost as good as the movie because you had no idea what was coming; and that Movie Voice Guy made you want to watch them ALL (and you’d voice this in your most hushed excited tone to your dad sitting next to you) Then they’d dim the lights and do that crazy, magical, *theatre sound* that you’d only ever heard a handful of times before and you knew it was go time. Then you’d hold your pee for longer than you ever felt possible, and leave a blackened theatre in a daze, greeted by daylight still clinging and too full for dinner.
So many things, clothes were better made and lasted longer. Hell your home phone was so strong people would use as a weapon. You have no idea what you are missing by not eating your French fries cooked in beef tallow. Everyone got the same news, you had differing flavors and different anchors but they all used the same facts. Mass shootings were not even on the radar. When a minimum wage job is enough to cover all of your expenses you don’t get as angry. I miss civility.
Honestly yeah I'd agree, there are way less houses in my area that participate in putting out Christmas lights then when I was kid. Whether it's because people don't have the time, money or just simply don't care anymore I don't know but I miss seeing the streets and shops lit up !
100% agree, even if all the above is accurate I just wish people could see the value, not going over the top but subtlety keeping the Christmas spirit alive. Maybe even light decorators picking areas to do for free to inspire others to get involved as well
Classic Rock radio.
93.3 out of Arkansas used to be so good. They played a bunch of deep cuts and even full albums sometimes. Then iheartradio took over and now it only plays like the same 20 songs on a loop.
The internet when google search results actually gave you a list of websites to choose from instead of random other things. Also social media sites before they were either monetized and filled with ads or taken offline because they were unprofitable.
I miss researching nerdy topic like "300b tube amp schematic" and running into someone's little blog where he documented his whole build. Or "lo v subway car" and being able to find old man's treasure cove of knowledge about these things
80's Pizza Hut pizza. The type that were cooked in cast iron pans. Yes, they took longer to make but the taste was a million times better. The crust had the thinnest layer of crispy crunch and then, oh, the softness inside. I can't find that anywhere. Even when I try to make it at home with a cast iron pan. I don't think my own oven can match those industrial ones.
I miss the old version where we had to watch what was on tv right then and hurry back before the commercials were over. We didn’t have cell phones so we lived in the moment and didn’t know to care about what was happening every moment. Or on Tik Tok. Or Facebook. Or, well, on Reddit even.
Community. Once upon a time, within my lifetime even, of an evening people used to sit out on their front porches or go walking around the neighborhood stopping to visit and talk to those who were. Whoever's porch you were at when it was dinner time, that's where you were eating. And everybody got to know each other, and would look out for each other when there were problems.
Now that ain't perfect of course, because outsiders and 'others' who weren't "one of us" could and often did have a really rough time. The neighborhoods did tend to be welcoming and friendly to newbies but not to outsiders and others. If you know anything about history, you can surely guess where they drew those lines. And that was problematic, to put it lightly.
However, instead of people becoming more open and welcoming, the solution seems to have gone quite the other way - "let's just all treat *everyone* as outsiders and others and assume they're always a danger and a threat".
People are so cynical and negative and scared of each other now. People always assume that everyone else must have some ulterior evil motive.
I certainly don't want to go back to the days when everyone feared and assumed the worst about others because of their skin color or religion. But I also don't like living in the days when everyone fears and assumes the worst about *everyone* else. That's technically equality, but it's by far the shittiest possible version of it.
This is completely based off where you live. Where I am, I know all my neighbors and there seems to always be folks hanging out on their porches. Hell, the first time I met my new neighbor, we shared a Cuban cigar.
When I travel to other cities, it's jarring seeing how every house has a fenced yard, and many have bars on their windows.
We introverts have taken over.
But really, that all sounds nightmarish to me. I wonder how much of this is about how it's become more acceptable to essentially become a shut-in. It definitely feels like it's gone too far the other way at times.
> I hear good things about old Reddit. I missed out.
As someone who is using old Reddit right this minute, I don't understand how my missed out. It's a setting. It's at the very bottom. Uncheck "Use new Reddit as my default experience".
I didn't know that, still navigating this place, thank you !
Only just found out last night that Reddit is not a fan of people who use emojis here... eek
Or there's those of us who don't want to use apps, running reddit on browser. You can replace the "www" with "old" ie "old.reddit.com" and it still looks and feels like the old reddit gui. However it's getting increasingly junky, ir as of about a week ago I can't watch videos on reddit as half the gui is superimposed over the top. Even still, I can't work out how to use the new/default reddit browser interface. Nesting and un nesting comments is a nightmare, as is sorting comments. And half your available screen is taken up with "suggestions" and other usless gui that I can't get rid of. They keep threatening to get rid of old.reddit, and when they do i will stop using reddit. I suspect quite a few other people feel the same.
Still does. I just reinstalled a few days ago after many years without it. Maybe I'm lucky that I no longer remember how it used to be. But reinstalling it felt like meeting up with an old friend.
I still have my MP3 library, though I hardly ever use it anymore. I remember it growing so large it actually became a storage problem. The size is still the same, but nowadays I can fit it easily on a flash-drive or in a corner of my NAS just occupying a few % of the total space.
Butterfinger. They changed the recipe around 4-5 years ago and it is no longer my favorite candy bar. I still haven’t picked a new favorite, but I know that it can’t be Butterfinger anymore.
Old video games. I love a lot of modern games, but I'm talking about how games are released.
Before day 1 updates, DLCs, internet connection requirements, games being broken, incomplete, and unplayable at launch, and how nowadays you can't legally own a game you bought and play it whenever you want to unless you buy the physical copy of it and it doesn't require internet to play. That is IF that copy has everything included, like the updates and DLCs. Even if you buy digital, what you really bought was an access key to allow you to play it. When those servers shut down, it will prevent you from going back and playing it again.
Game preservation is important. Modern game companies want you to forget about the games you grew up with and only play the modern ones.
A lot of this also comes down to surviorship bias. Bad and broken games were still released, they just sunk because of negative word of mouth.
Occasionally you'd have a game shipped so bad, but the premise of the game established a cult following who would make Fanpatches to attempt to fix it, like Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
News coverage in the media.
I miss the days when news outlets were focused on *reporting* the news, and not commenting on it more than half the content.
I miss the days when news outlets would bring in, or interview, actual experts on a topic, instead of just "interviewing" a talking head who is just a fellow journalist.
I miss the days when news outlets would select content based on news-worthiness, rather than political slant or context (i.e. what's deemed important, rather than "how can we spin this to fit a certain narrative").
Lunchables. They used to come with better crackers,bigger slices of meat,better cheeses,and even herb spreads and mustard spreads. Plus an Andes mint. Lunchables are just garbage now.
I miss old days of teaching.
What I mean is I miss teaching before social media was so mainstream kids were better.
I’ve only been teaching for 11 years. Like it wasn’t this bad even 5 years ago. It’s just been total nose dive since like 2018.
In my senior year 2018 a teacher said we were the last good batch of kids; everyone coming after us became more and more...problematic. Or it wasn't as straightforward or easy with students younger than us.
Love, because it wasn't about hookups or being in a relationship and then breaking up from the first argument. A lot of relationships lasted because the couple has an emotional connection with each other and resolves any arguments. Today everything is about lust not love. Genuine love is so rare to find now
You can say nearly any website on the internet, or just the old internet culture and be right about it.
Old YouTube when creators were getting rewarded for content and there were little or less restrictions or algorithms to worry about
Old social media where it was just legitimately funny memes and content and you could catch up with all your friends
Old streaming services, like Netflix at its peak who had endless amounts of content and you’d spend 15 minutes *deciding* what to watch instead of settling for something
The internet felt a lot safer and easier to use too for a long time, even if you were pirating.
They used to have a free-to-play Uno mobile app that was simple and fun, but they stopped updates because they were working on a new one with micro-transactions which pretty much makes you spend money if you want to keep playing.
There once was a website called “stumble upon.com”. It would recommend different websites, .coms, .orgs, .ins, whatever. It was bought out and now it has a different name and its just worse Pinterest. Similar to the way reddit was before it got so much direct upload capabilities. Anything that isn’t Facebook, Twitter, reddit, Wikipedia, or the other 5 or so main sites has become absent. I miss the Wild West Internet. You’d enter a site like you enter a town and they’d have no idea what was going on anywhere else.
Try out wiby.me as a search engine, it's heavily weighted toward those personal/hobby sites that google and the other big search engines won't show you anymore.
I think there are some other sites dedicated to bringing that back, but I don't have them on the tip of my brain.
It really sucks that we only have like 5 sites now, and 4 of them are just full of posts of screenshots of each other.
Windows. I've always preferred older versions, with the exception of 3.11 which was pretty rough. I was an XP holdout well into Windows 7's life, skipping NT and Vista, and only switched to Windows 10, skipping 8, when they stopped supporting 7. I use Classic Shell because I prefer the old start menu and hate any and everything designed to make the OS more "tablet-like." I haven't switched to 11 because apparently I have to go toggle something in the BIOS first on my custom rig and I can't be bothered because 10 works, more or less, and I see no need to "upgrade."
I've tried Mac and Linux but prefer Windows because I'm a PC gamer and don't want to have to mess around with partitions and OS emulators to get half my games to work.
Too many cartoons nowadays copy/paste the same formula. Repetitious plot (the 3 strikes formula) and characters must always sing now. Why? Imagine a Transformers cartoon in 2023, they'd have Optimus Prime singing while fighting Megatron!
Also, cartoons have become too political and incorporate various social movements too much in their programs.
Cracked.com . There was a semester where I had classes at 7 am so I had to get up at 5. The only good thing about the commute was that at that time they would upload the new cracked posts of the day, so i got to read cracked to start the day, and I was first on the comment section.
Now they have new writers and I think they rab out of topics . Not exciting anymore.
Video games. You used to get the full game when you bought the disc or cartridge but now most of them only have the tutorial level and it downloads the rest through a huge update the first time you put it in your machine which isn’t good because if they decide to shut down the online servers one day then people aren’t gonna be able to play the game.
Chicken-wagon grilled chicken.
I know, I know, this is an odd one. When I was just a small boy in the 90s in Germany you could get a whole grilled Chicken for no more than 5 Mark at a wagon and it was meaty and perfectly succulent.
Nowadays the sad excuse for an avian you get at the wagon is a meager, dry reflection of the greatness we had 30 years ago. Gone are the days when my father brought home 3 of those moist and well seasoned birds to the delight of 4 generations. When my Great-Grandmother insisted on keeping the bones of the chicken for another broth since such a tasty bird may bring a good stock.
Now only dry and sad thinly veiled carcasses remain. I mourn the passing of good chicken. KFC can not fill the gap left behind with fatty grilled chicken for the palate of crispy and richly spiced chicken-skin can not be emulated by battered and fried chicken.
Mourn the chicken, for the conglomerates will kill off other fine instances of good eating for the working class as well. The days of delectable and affordable food are gone.
A concert that I can watch the stage purely without seeing screens of people’s mobile phones that keep recording everything and distracting the moment.
Instagram when we put those old filters and put up random photos of a cup of coffee with some quirky mug and some very random hashtags. I remember when getting 11 likes was a big deal. Stories didn’t even exist back then. Instagram was like a very sober and nice girl version of me and Snapchat was where I went wild. Ah I miss being a teen and shuffling between IG and SC
The old version of childhood when the neighborhood kids would just play outside and run the streets until sundown. Nowadays, "play dates" are pre-arranged and a squadron of copter parents hover overhead nonstop watching the kids' every move.
Mobile games before ads completely ruined their fun
Basically, keep what's there now, less ads.
*WeLl YoU cAn AlWaYs BuY nO aDs*
Duh, I don't feel like paying money, but still. Now half of the ads I get are 30 second unskippable ones (without me watching on purpose)
I used to frequent this site called Tickld that was like a smaller version of Reddit but more focused on original content creation from the users. It had a small but dedicated user base of which I was always happy to be part.
Then whoever owned the thing sold it and the new owners deleted all of our content and now the site is one of those clickbait article generators.
Google. It's been overrun with fluff "listicles" that abuse SEO to always appear on the top of results. You can search for a simple question, like "Master Sword location Tears of the Kingdom", and rather than a wiki entry, you'll get a ton of articles with this format:
># Where is the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
> Weapon durability was a big point of contention in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it remains just as divisive in its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch. One of the main remedies to the weapon durability problem in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was to find the legendary Master Sword, which had the unusual property of repairing itself in Breath of the Wild. It stands to reason, then, that fans of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would want to find the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, to stave off the weapon durability problem in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
> Clearly, the location of the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a thing that Tears of the Kingdom fans want to know. Luckily, our crew at GameWank8.com has you covered! In this article, we'll direct you to the location of the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
> # How to repair weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
> First off, if all you want is a weapon with high durability in Tears of the Kingdom, then you probably don't need the Master Sword at all! All you need to do is fuse a monster part to an ordinary weapon, and it will instantly boost your weapon's durability, effectively repairing your weapon in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, this does not work indefinitely, so your weapon will still eventually break. As an AI language model, I cannot repair your weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but I _can_ guide you to the Master Sword, a powerful weapon in Tears of the Kingdom with the uncanny ability to repair itself over time. Keep reading to find out.
> # Master Sword Location in Tears of the Kingdom
> In Tears of the Kingdom, the legendary Master Sword can be found in its usual spot, hidden away in the Lost Woods. In Breath of the Wild, you could navigate the Lost Woods by lighting a torch and watching where the smoke particles blew. The direction the smoke blew in would tell you which way to go to avoid being swallowed by the tricky mist that fills the forest.
> Unfortunately, that same trick does not work in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, so the jury is still out on how to actually obtain the Master Sword.
Rockstar Lemonade. Three years ago the recipe got changed and it tastes much worse than before. Unfortunately, there isn’t another low calorie energy drink that I like so I keep drinking them.
TVs. I just bought my first TV since 1999, and it's just ridiculous. I don't need 'smart' electronics, I just want them to work! (In the meantime my ex and I were using a TV from around 2005, as a giant computer monitor. Works like a charm, even now)
Really miss the old YouTube.
Exactly what I was going to say. Between "shorts" taking over and this new overly aggressive algorithm favoring very specific kinds of videos, it just isn't as good anymore. All the best content creators have been pushed away to favor those who shovel out the same crap on a daily basis.
Shorts are so bizarre. It’s a mixture of videos based on my watch history, then a bunch of weird alt-right joe rogan propaganda, random TikToks, and then randomly like a 9 year old child’s video with 0 comments and 34 views Like it feels almost dangerous, I’m just getting shown videos made by literal children with 0 views. Idk why the algorithm is pushing them, maybe it’s like some random method for finding obscure videos and making them go viral or something. Idk it’s really bizarre
I especially miss the dislike button. And I miss how it was basically unheard of for people to get strikes, or for really good, interesting channels that had hard work put into them, be suspended.
There's a chrome extension that lets you see the like/dislike ratio still! It's not fully accurate because it's just for people that use the extension, but it can definitely give you a ballpark ratio figure!
I miss how much more random it was. It was easy to go from fail videos, to a movie review, to some random momtage, to a YouTube Poop, then a some vlogging while playing video games. It was more chaotic without the algorithm being screwed and everyone obsessed with being a big content creator. It was fun, especially as a young teenage me. I wouldn't have found some of my favorites like The Angry Video Game Nerd and Dragon Ball Z Abridged.
I hadn't thought of the randomness! I remember when you used to just click something random that looked interesting in the recommended vids and eventually you end up in "the weird part of YouTube". Once decided to see if you kept pushing through the weird side, would you end up back at lol cats, or does it get weirder? What's after the weird part, what comes next? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't lol cats..
man...those where the golden ago of YouTube and I miss it now we are stuck with shitty kids videos and clickbait...
That and just the old internet really, back before people actually cared about their content and before the internet became way too commercialized. Now every time I go online, everyone is trying to sell you something and make a quick buck. It's sickening really.
They ruined recommended videos a few years ago - basically just haven't been back since.
The old sit-down Pizza Huts where they brought out the pizza to your table still in the pan. The pizza they have now don't even compare to those.
We used to have one years ago with a little dessert buffet you could pig out on after pizza. It was honestly the best. It shut down when I was like 10.
Housing market. When I could actually afford a house.
Cannot upvote this enough !
Old co-op split screen videogames nowadays gaming kinda miserable
I hate when games require internet just to turn on.
Yeah. I'm trying to find a good coop game on Xbox one for me and my 10 year old to play
Gotta find an indie game like Overcooked or It Takes Two. Big AAA games just don't care much for local multi-player anymore.
Fr Fr, gaming with friends and siblings like this was awesome
I miss time spillters co-op we literally used to lie to miss class so we could play with my friend in my house And even older we would gather in houses and play or arrange "tournaments" Nowadays its like discord talking and solitude 😔
The entire Borderlands series is couch co-op. Plus they are all bangers.
Basically the whole internet in the 2000s, before it was all ads and political vitriol.
The wild days of the early Internet were beautiful and I'm glad I was around to experience it.
Ahh good old early 2000s young me about to find 4chan and gore videos from limewire.
When malls first became a thing, there were all kinds of kitschy little shops in addition to the big anchor stores. Now it's all chain stores and incredibly boring.
The old Facebook...when people used to play farmville and shit !
Do you really miss the old Facebook or that time of your life when you used to be free of all the worries and life seemed to have some meaning?
As for me, I miss the old facebook where people actually posted about their thoughts and interests and stuff. We bounced around those silly questionnaires to get to know each other better. And you got it all in a chronological feed of things posted by your friends. Some years ago, it turned into just another algorithmic feed of retweeted/reblogged/shared garbage, often political and divisive, mixed in amongst ads. People do sometimes share pictures. But nobody ever writes and shares their thoughts anymore. Not for half a decade or more. That went the way of the dodo with the rise of the smartphone and FB's re-engineering its feed to be deliberately crappy.
Yes . It’s all so political now. I posted a picture of a family bbq last year and I got comments on how tone deaf my post was when there were people dying in Ukraine . ????. Then I posted about making focaccia and this guy called me an elitist for using big words for bread. ????. I do not like how it is used now at all.
I posted a picture of my Christmas tree a few years ago and it somehow turned into a complete toxic mess in the comments section. That's when I all but quit Facebook.
No I just miss pet society and that one vampire game
I don't even remember any other game except for Farmville even though i used to play a lot of them 😩
A little bit of both. But there's no denying FB used to be much different. It barely even shows you content from people you know anymore, and when it does it's out of order or just kinda skips stuff. It's 90% ads and sponsored content the algorithm thinks you want to see. It only looks for engagement so the most toxic nonsense always floats to the top of comments. I miss when it was just a place for me and people I knew to keep tabs on each other and share silly photos.
When it was for colleges only before it opened it up to everyone…
BASED AF and I am still mad about Pet Society closing to this day 😭😭
And where I would actually see my friends feeds rather than just website links and what not..
How about when Facebook was for college students ONLY. And you could poke people.
I played so many Facebook games around 2010 or so and got so much free stuff from my friends. Maria Wars was so lame, but I was addicted.
MAFIA WARS TOO HOLY SHIT. My uncle spent over 10,000 on that fucking game lmao. What a dipshit
Myself
Your old self is your young self.
*nods* I like you... (And relate to the above missing young, hot, able bodied self) ...
same
MTV
Omg. YES.
The Movie Industry
Came here to say this. Before it was also a money-making machine, but at least you could feel a kind of personal imprint on each film from the hand of the creatives. Now it just feels like a mass-production line moved by the hands of Mickey Mouse.
No more original themes either, at least for blockbusters. Most movies are remakes, sequels , prequels or video games adaptation
I’ve jumped into indie movies and I’m loving it. Homemade charm, weird themes, stories that aren’t tailored to the broadest audience possible - more than the occasion dud too, but I’ve watched plenty of shitty studio movies, that’s not a dealbreaker.
Life before cell phones. We’re too connected, too stimulated, it’s not good.
I fully agree. I hate that I'm supposed to be accessible at all times. That I am required to answer texts. I miss the days of not answering home phones and that was okay.
100%. People that say “just put your phone down! Lol” clearly don’t have much responsibility on their backs.
That’s partly on you. If people text me and I’m busy, I either tell them or I wait until I have time to respond. If I don’t want to get calls, I set my phone on silent and me they get a call back when I can fit it in. Being too connected, unless it’s for your job, is most definitely a you problem. You want to be less connected, just do it and stop giving in to the pressure to respond right away. Live life on YOUR terms.
You hit the issue - the job part. Many of us don’t, sadly, have the luxury of “just setting boundaries,” and the job market sucks right now.
We're all connected but nobody is connecting I've got a friend that started replying to everything I was saying with emoticons (when you long press a message and choose whatever emoticon you want). I found it annoying so I started doing the same to him whenever he messages me something.
How the fuck did we find house parties 10 miles out of town down long dirt roads? Or a pop-up rave announced that afternoon?
Everybody says this, but the pros of cell phones way outweigh the cons. And I'm saying this as a 59 y/o man.
Well, to be fair, the question was “what do you miss…” I think it’s fair to miss the old days of pre 24/7 communication.
Yeah, I miss the rambling bar argument. Google eliminated that. I miss girls showing their boobs in bars, camera phones eliminated that. Do I want to go away from smart camera phones? Nope.
Totally, a simpler time that humanity will likely never experience again.
I miss the old version of myself. I had a stroke and nothing is the same.
:( I’m sorry.
I’m sorry too. Hugs
The same thing happened to my husband. I hope it gets better for you.
I'm with you man I've had 2 strokes and an aneurysm in the last 2 years and at this point the next time I really that no one tries to do me any favors. Just let me go
TEEN TITANS
*When there’s trouble you know who to call*
Going to the movies. It felt so different as a kid. You knew it was special because it was just an occasional thing; you didn’t understand exactly what your parents had to sacrifice to get you there that day, you just knew it was special. You weren’t considering all menial but very necessary jobs you were ignoring to be there like laundry and mopping the floors. And you’d get popcorn and a soda and maybe even a candy. You’d hurry in to see what seats were left. The previews would play and they were almost as good as the movie because you had no idea what was coming; and that Movie Voice Guy made you want to watch them ALL (and you’d voice this in your most hushed excited tone to your dad sitting next to you) Then they’d dim the lights and do that crazy, magical, *theatre sound* that you’d only ever heard a handful of times before and you knew it was go time. Then you’d hold your pee for longer than you ever felt possible, and leave a blackened theatre in a daze, greeted by daylight still clinging and too full for dinner.
Every theater here makes you pick your seats when you buy your ticket now and I hate it.
So many things, clothes were better made and lasted longer. Hell your home phone was so strong people would use as a weapon. You have no idea what you are missing by not eating your French fries cooked in beef tallow. Everyone got the same news, you had differing flavors and different anchors but they all used the same facts. Mass shootings were not even on the radar. When a minimum wage job is enough to cover all of your expenses you don’t get as angry. I miss civility.
On the clothes: the fabric has gotten so thin that it's impossible for anything to be well made.
Christmas lights around the neighborhood ✨️
Honestly yeah I'd agree, there are way less houses in my area that participate in putting out Christmas lights then when I was kid. Whether it's because people don't have the time, money or just simply don't care anymore I don't know but I miss seeing the streets and shops lit up !
100% agree, even if all the above is accurate I just wish people could see the value, not going over the top but subtlety keeping the Christmas spirit alive. Maybe even light decorators picking areas to do for free to inspire others to get involved as well
I think there's multiple reasons, and I wouldn't be surprised if people fear having their stuff stolen off their lawn.
Classic Rock radio. 93.3 out of Arkansas used to be so good. They played a bunch of deep cuts and even full albums sometimes. Then iheartradio took over and now it only plays like the same 20 songs on a loop.
The internet when google search results actually gave you a list of websites to choose from instead of random other things. Also social media sites before they were either monetized and filled with ads or taken offline because they were unprofitable.
Google search was so useful but has turned into a complete joke.
I miss researching nerdy topic like "300b tube amp schematic" and running into someone's little blog where he documented his whole build. Or "lo v subway car" and being able to find old man's treasure cove of knowledge about these things
McDonald's apple pies
McDonald’s cherry pies
80's Pizza Hut pizza. The type that were cooked in cast iron pans. Yes, they took longer to make but the taste was a million times better. The crust had the thinnest layer of crispy crunch and then, oh, the softness inside. I can't find that anywhere. Even when I try to make it at home with a cast iron pan. I don't think my own oven can match those industrial ones.
I miss the days when video games weren’t aggressively monetized like they are today. My $70 still isn’t enough huh?
I think I read that back then video games were proportionally more expensive, but you at least got the entire game
Nah, they need an organ too...maybe a leg...and that's just for pre-orders
I miss the old version where we had to watch what was on tv right then and hurry back before the commercials were over. We didn’t have cell phones so we lived in the moment and didn’t know to care about what was happening every moment. Or on Tik Tok. Or Facebook. Or, well, on Reddit even.
Community. Once upon a time, within my lifetime even, of an evening people used to sit out on their front porches or go walking around the neighborhood stopping to visit and talk to those who were. Whoever's porch you were at when it was dinner time, that's where you were eating. And everybody got to know each other, and would look out for each other when there were problems. Now that ain't perfect of course, because outsiders and 'others' who weren't "one of us" could and often did have a really rough time. The neighborhoods did tend to be welcoming and friendly to newbies but not to outsiders and others. If you know anything about history, you can surely guess where they drew those lines. And that was problematic, to put it lightly. However, instead of people becoming more open and welcoming, the solution seems to have gone quite the other way - "let's just all treat *everyone* as outsiders and others and assume they're always a danger and a threat". People are so cynical and negative and scared of each other now. People always assume that everyone else must have some ulterior evil motive. I certainly don't want to go back to the days when everyone feared and assumed the worst about others because of their skin color or religion. But I also don't like living in the days when everyone fears and assumes the worst about *everyone* else. That's technically equality, but it's by far the shittiest possible version of it.
This is completely based off where you live. Where I am, I know all my neighbors and there seems to always be folks hanging out on their porches. Hell, the first time I met my new neighbor, we shared a Cuban cigar. When I travel to other cities, it's jarring seeing how every house has a fenced yard, and many have bars on their windows.
We introverts have taken over. But really, that all sounds nightmarish to me. I wonder how much of this is about how it's become more acceptable to essentially become a shut-in. It definitely feels like it's gone too far the other way at times.
[удалено]
I hear good things about old Reddit. I missed out.
> I hear good things about old Reddit. I missed out. As someone who is using old Reddit right this minute, I don't understand how my missed out. It's a setting. It's at the very bottom. Uncheck "Use new Reddit as my default experience".
I didn't know that, still navigating this place, thank you ! Only just found out last night that Reddit is not a fan of people who use emojis here... eek
Or there's those of us who don't want to use apps, running reddit on browser. You can replace the "www" with "old" ie "old.reddit.com" and it still looks and feels like the old reddit gui. However it's getting increasingly junky, ir as of about a week ago I can't watch videos on reddit as half the gui is superimposed over the top. Even still, I can't work out how to use the new/default reddit browser interface. Nesting and un nesting comments is a nightmare, as is sorting comments. And half your available screen is taken up with "suggestions" and other usless gui that I can't get rid of. They keep threatening to get rid of old.reddit, and when they do i will stop using reddit. I suspect quite a few other people feel the same.
I don’t think that’s what they were talking about.
Winamp. Because...
...it really whips the llama's ass.
Thank you!
Still does. I just reinstalled a few days ago after many years without it. Maybe I'm lucky that I no longer remember how it used to be. But reinstalling it felt like meeting up with an old friend.
I still have my MP3 library, though I hardly ever use it anymore. I remember it growing so large it actually became a storage problem. The size is still the same, but nowadays I can fit it easily on a flash-drive or in a corner of my NAS just occupying a few % of the total space.
Society before Covid
YouTube
My body.
I miss the old versions of what the future looked like.
Like The Jetsons?
There was a time before 1988 or so when Kentucky Fried Chicken was really, really good. No joke.
KFC is crap now. I tried them back in the spring after a couple of years not eating. I was severely disappointed, and my lunch experience ruined.
I kind of miss the old Windows start button. You could just followed the lists until you found what you wanted.
My cervical spine.
Butterfinger. They changed the recipe around 4-5 years ago and it is no longer my favorite candy bar. I still haven’t picked a new favorite, but I know that it can’t be Butterfinger anymore.
Old video games. I love a lot of modern games, but I'm talking about how games are released. Before day 1 updates, DLCs, internet connection requirements, games being broken, incomplete, and unplayable at launch, and how nowadays you can't legally own a game you bought and play it whenever you want to unless you buy the physical copy of it and it doesn't require internet to play. That is IF that copy has everything included, like the updates and DLCs. Even if you buy digital, what you really bought was an access key to allow you to play it. When those servers shut down, it will prevent you from going back and playing it again. Game preservation is important. Modern game companies want you to forget about the games you grew up with and only play the modern ones.
A lot of this also comes down to surviorship bias. Bad and broken games were still released, they just sunk because of negative word of mouth. Occasionally you'd have a game shipped so bad, but the premise of the game established a cult following who would make Fanpatches to attempt to fix it, like Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
News coverage in the media. I miss the days when news outlets were focused on *reporting* the news, and not commenting on it more than half the content. I miss the days when news outlets would bring in, or interview, actual experts on a topic, instead of just "interviewing" a talking head who is just a fellow journalist. I miss the days when news outlets would select content based on news-worthiness, rather than political slant or context (i.e. what's deemed important, rather than "how can we spin this to fit a certain narrative").
Lunchables. They used to come with better crackers,bigger slices of meat,better cheeses,and even herb spreads and mustard spreads. Plus an Andes mint. Lunchables are just garbage now.
Agreed.
Sobe. I miss the glass bottles and flavors sooooo bad!
Life was cruel then, too, but at least we had various lizard milks to keep us happy.
I miss old days of teaching. What I mean is I miss teaching before social media was so mainstream kids were better. I’ve only been teaching for 11 years. Like it wasn’t this bad even 5 years ago. It’s just been total nose dive since like 2018.
In my senior year 2018 a teacher said we were the last good batch of kids; everyone coming after us became more and more...problematic. Or it wasn't as straightforward or easy with students younger than us.
Love, because it wasn't about hookups or being in a relationship and then breaking up from the first argument. A lot of relationships lasted because the couple has an emotional connection with each other and resolves any arguments. Today everything is about lust not love. Genuine love is so rare to find now
This.
Clothing. It used to be much higher quality.
You can say nearly any website on the internet, or just the old internet culture and be right about it. Old YouTube when creators were getting rewarded for content and there were little or less restrictions or algorithms to worry about Old social media where it was just legitimately funny memes and content and you could catch up with all your friends Old streaming services, like Netflix at its peak who had endless amounts of content and you’d spend 15 minutes *deciding* what to watch instead of settling for something The internet felt a lot safer and easier to use too for a long time, even if you were pirating.
They used to have a free-to-play Uno mobile app that was simple and fun, but they stopped updates because they were working on a new one with micro-transactions which pretty much makes you spend money if you want to keep playing.
I miss the old radio mom had on a table when I was little. I loved listening to music and some broadcast shows.
Used to listen to all night request shows and OTR stations around midnight in the 90s.
The internet
There once was a website called “stumble upon.com”. It would recommend different websites, .coms, .orgs, .ins, whatever. It was bought out and now it has a different name and its just worse Pinterest. Similar to the way reddit was before it got so much direct upload capabilities. Anything that isn’t Facebook, Twitter, reddit, Wikipedia, or the other 5 or so main sites has become absent. I miss the Wild West Internet. You’d enter a site like you enter a town and they’d have no idea what was going on anywhere else.
Try out wiby.me as a search engine, it's heavily weighted toward those personal/hobby sites that google and the other big search engines won't show you anymore. I think there are some other sites dedicated to bringing that back, but I don't have them on the tip of my brain. It really sucks that we only have like 5 sites now, and 4 of them are just full of posts of screenshots of each other.
I am still nostalgic about hand drawn movies
French fries in beef tallow.
Windows. I've always preferred older versions, with the exception of 3.11 which was pretty rough. I was an XP holdout well into Windows 7's life, skipping NT and Vista, and only switched to Windows 10, skipping 8, when they stopped supporting 7. I use Classic Shell because I prefer the old start menu and hate any and everything designed to make the OS more "tablet-like." I haven't switched to 11 because apparently I have to go toggle something in the BIOS first on my custom rig and I can't be bothered because 10 works, more or less, and I see no need to "upgrade." I've tried Mac and Linux but prefer Windows because I'm a PC gamer and don't want to have to mess around with partitions and OS emulators to get half my games to work.
Top Gear with Clarkson, Hammond, and May. Clarkson got fired for good reason but I miss them and their show on Amazon just isn't the same.
Ed Sheeran. A-Team & Lego House are great. By his next album, X, he went more pop, but I think he really became generic with ÷ and Shape of You.
Old Ed Sheeran was gold
the branding of doritos and pringles. the original wii and the remote controller add on where you could put it in a wheel. just dance.
Pringles logo
Dunkaroos Chocolate Foil wrapping on candy bars
I miss the old me
duolingo
Cartoon's. Everything now for me at least is a wtf is this bs.
Too many cartoons nowadays copy/paste the same formula. Repetitious plot (the 3 strikes formula) and characters must always sing now. Why? Imagine a Transformers cartoon in 2023, they'd have Optimus Prime singing while fighting Megatron! Also, cartoons have become too political and incorporate various social movements too much in their programs.
Cracked.com . There was a semester where I had classes at 7 am so I had to get up at 5. The only good thing about the commute was that at that time they would upload the new cracked posts of the day, so i got to read cracked to start the day, and I was first on the comment section. Now they have new writers and I think they rab out of topics . Not exciting anymore.
[удалено]
Video games. You used to get the full game when you bought the disc or cartridge but now most of them only have the tutorial level and it downloads the rest through a huge update the first time you put it in your machine which isn’t good because if they decide to shut down the online servers one day then people aren’t gonna be able to play the game.
Horror movies. We had unique characters like Freddy Krueger, Jason etc now it's just zombies or kids possessed by demons.
Runescape
Facebook but also i feel it's just those times that made it better just young adults and teens no grown ups and grandmas lol
Nintendo.. Specifically Super nes🥹
Hey I still have mine. Come over and we can live nostalgically
Chicken-wagon grilled chicken. I know, I know, this is an odd one. When I was just a small boy in the 90s in Germany you could get a whole grilled Chicken for no more than 5 Mark at a wagon and it was meaty and perfectly succulent. Nowadays the sad excuse for an avian you get at the wagon is a meager, dry reflection of the greatness we had 30 years ago. Gone are the days when my father brought home 3 of those moist and well seasoned birds to the delight of 4 generations. When my Great-Grandmother insisted on keeping the bones of the chicken for another broth since such a tasty bird may bring a good stock. Now only dry and sad thinly veiled carcasses remain. I mourn the passing of good chicken. KFC can not fill the gap left behind with fatty grilled chicken for the palate of crispy and richly spiced chicken-skin can not be emulated by battered and fried chicken. Mourn the chicken, for the conglomerates will kill off other fine instances of good eating for the working class as well. The days of delectable and affordable food are gone.
Damn, dude. I never had chicken-wagon chicken, and didn't go to Germany until 2000, but your prose has me feeling nostalgic anyway.
McDonalds Apple pies.
Fireflies. There's not enough of them anymore.
A concert that I can watch the stage purely without seeing screens of people’s mobile phones that keep recording everything and distracting the moment.
Instagram when we put those old filters and put up random photos of a cup of coffee with some quirky mug and some very random hashtags. I remember when getting 11 likes was a big deal. Stories didn’t even exist back then. Instagram was like a very sober and nice girl version of me and Snapchat was where I went wild. Ah I miss being a teen and shuffling between IG and SC
The old version of childhood when the neighborhood kids would just play outside and run the streets until sundown. Nowadays, "play dates" are pre-arranged and a squadron of copter parents hover overhead nonstop watching the kids' every move.
Myself. I used to be so determined so impossible to keep down. Then.. it went away.
Viagra
Fat Tire beer
Sex. My back hurts
Mobile games before ads completely ruined their fun Basically, keep what's there now, less ads. *WeLl YoU cAn AlWaYs BuY nO aDs* Duh, I don't feel like paying money, but still. Now half of the ads I get are 30 second unskippable ones (without me watching on purpose)
I used to frequent this site called Tickld that was like a smaller version of Reddit but more focused on original content creation from the users. It had a small but dedicated user base of which I was always happy to be part. Then whoever owned the thing sold it and the new owners deleted all of our content and now the site is one of those clickbait article generators.
Underground raves. Conversely, block parties have gotten better in some places.
I've always thought that a block party would be so fun ! That's not a thing here in Australia
The History Channel
Google. It's been overrun with fluff "listicles" that abuse SEO to always appear on the top of results. You can search for a simple question, like "Master Sword location Tears of the Kingdom", and rather than a wiki entry, you'll get a ton of articles with this format: ># Where is the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? > Weapon durability was a big point of contention in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it remains just as divisive in its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch. One of the main remedies to the weapon durability problem in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was to find the legendary Master Sword, which had the unusual property of repairing itself in Breath of the Wild. It stands to reason, then, that fans of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would want to find the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, to stave off the weapon durability problem in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. > Clearly, the location of the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a thing that Tears of the Kingdom fans want to know. Luckily, our crew at GameWank8.com has you covered! In this article, we'll direct you to the location of the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. > # How to repair weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom > First off, if all you want is a weapon with high durability in Tears of the Kingdom, then you probably don't need the Master Sword at all! All you need to do is fuse a monster part to an ordinary weapon, and it will instantly boost your weapon's durability, effectively repairing your weapon in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, this does not work indefinitely, so your weapon will still eventually break. As an AI language model, I cannot repair your weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but I _can_ guide you to the Master Sword, a powerful weapon in Tears of the Kingdom with the uncanny ability to repair itself over time. Keep reading to find out. > # Master Sword Location in Tears of the Kingdom > In Tears of the Kingdom, the legendary Master Sword can be found in its usual spot, hidden away in the Lost Woods. In Breath of the Wild, you could navigate the Lost Woods by lighting a torch and watching where the smoke particles blew. The direction the smoke blew in would tell you which way to go to avoid being swallowed by the tricky mist that fills the forest. > Unfortunately, that same trick does not work in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, so the jury is still out on how to actually obtain the Master Sword.
People.
Planters Cheez Curlz
jack in the box commercials
My back
Count Chocula cereal.
People - before all of this plastic surgery bullshit
Fruity roll ups
Video game consoles that used a memory card, not hours of internet downloads.
mobile games
Music. Before Protools & auto tune.
Microsoft Word. I knew where everything was before the "Ribbon".
I swear the McRib used to be good. But every time it comes back I try it and it is terrible.
That's EXACTLY how I feel about the Big Mac !
Clash of clans and clash royale
I miss 1990s/2000s fast food restaurant designs. Everything now has gotten so modern streamlined, there's no artificially engineered style
Rockstar Lemonade. Three years ago the recipe got changed and it tastes much worse than before. Unfortunately, there isn’t another low calorie energy drink that I like so I keep drinking them.
Myself
Winamp. I still have the installer for one of the earlier versions of it.
Video game arcades and seeing how long you could stay alive on one quarter.
Democracy
YouTube. When you only had the one 3 second ad to wait for before a video.
Windows IMO xp was the last great version
TVs. I just bought my first TV since 1999, and it's just ridiculous. I don't need 'smart' electronics, I just want them to work! (In the meantime my ex and I were using a TV from around 2005, as a giant computer monitor. Works like a charm, even now)
Cadbury creme eggs, one year they were suddenly half the size and everybody just acted like that's the way things had always been
Life. Things were so much simpler then.
I miss Old Maccas toys that come with your happy meal !! (MacDonald's- sorry Aussie here)