This is not specific to any social media. But this year I'm starting to see the Internet as something obsolete.

 

Everything is doom, AI is everywhere and Im having a harder time spotting it, there are racists and bigots now everywhere, people are just too stupid at the point were I wonder if they are bots or real people

 

Art is being stolen and we have like 100000 fake artists everywhere now because AI

 

Dating apps are horrible now

 

Everytime I spend more time offline I feel so alive

 

The internet used to be cool and it had a lot of good communities.

 

I feel like its hell now

 

 

Edited October 6, 2025Oct 6 by Trent W

ATRL is still the best community around, fully functional servers and tasteful members 

1 minute ago, RideOrDie said:

ATRL is still the best community around, fully functional servers and tasteful members 

not even Nicki on her 12453409th coke intake would believe that

Suggested new title for this thread:

 

is LIFE becoming unusable?

 

1 minute ago, truthteller said:

not even Nicki on her 12453409th coke intake would believe that

Actually I do find Atrl as one of the least worst places online  

 

Even with all the horrible glitches

 

twitter and tik tok are hell compared to this forum

1 minute ago, Trent W said:

Actually I do find Atrl as one of the least worst places online  

 

Even with all the horrible glitches

 

twitter and tik tok are hell compared to this forum

atrl is moderated that's why

Yes, I wish I had the privilege of not using the internet, especially socials. As a creative it pains me every time I see other "creatives" posting AI generated images to promote their work.

internet shopping now is completely useless .

 

i know exactly what im looking for , but if i type it into amazon or google , it will decide to show me the same 2 or 3 products which aren't quite what im looking for. that would've been fine a few years ago, id simply carry on scrolling, there are other products that must be a perfect match, right? now there isnt. now you'll just get shown the same 2 or 3 wrong products over and over again, sold by slightly different retailers who have all separately bought the same stock from the factory/wholesaler. those same 2-3 products will go on for 10+ pages of search results. then nothing. after that point you've developed such a fatigue that you can't even be bothered trying to find what you want anymore. and it's always for the simplest ******* items too, i went to buy a cat bed the other day, i spent about an hour being shown the same 2 or 3 cat beds all at very slightly different prices. **** off! if i didn't want it in the first 10 pages i sure as hell don't want it now

 

and every product looks like it was 3d printed on a 5p budget. where are all of the genuine small businesses selling stuff that they have created???? every product seems like it's come from the exact same factory nowadays

Edited October 6, 2025Oct 6 by May

Yes, they call it ens—ification. 
 

The powers that be (tech companies, corporations, governments, etc) are actively making the internet worse because they don't want people using it to find community or access information.
 

Alongside the problems mentioned in the OP, there is also an issue that things that used to be free are increasingly being hidden behind paywalls. News articles, scholarly journals, music charts, even simple things like recipes or knitting patterns are all becoming less accessible due to paywalls. 

Yes, absolutely. I kinda hope it'll inspire everyone to unplug. I think it's almost undeniable that it has done more harm than good (although there is some good). 
 

For my whole life I thought the internet would spell the end of ignorance and make quality information accessible to everyone. Instead it has literally done the opposite and were worse off then we were with legacy journalism. 

I'm so happy I deactivated twitter last month. After 30 days my account is being deleted by default. Now that I've discovered xcancel.com I use that if I have to absolutely view a tweet and its replies. But I'm over that whole site everything feels fake. Full of bots. 
 

TikTok has also gotten pretty bad between porn bots following me and the amount of ads/tiktok shop. Everyone wants to sell you something. 
 

Youtube ads are all ai garbage now. I have no idea why they aren't taking control of their ads. Even I almost fell for a scam ad about claiming a hidden government stimulus check. 
 

I'm more worried for idiots that can't tell a part fake from real. Then I have to decide if I'm gonna mind my business or be #that guy and always correct/educate people on what they're watching out loud on their phones. 
 

At this point, I only enjoy this place and Reddit. And I'm trying to step away from celeb news so I'm trying to post here less often. 

Edited October 6, 2025Oct 6 by Fleahive

I'm too high right now but yes, it's becoming more insidious and being in comment sections is light a battleground, everyone sees to take every statement in unfavourable ways like trusting everyone is speaking in bad faith? Idk but it's been really depressing to see devolve, i have no solution cause it's only going to get worse over time (except for some safe havens lol)

Yes. I am seriously considering downgrading to a basic flip phone, and only accessing the internet on my computer like when the internet was just a tool, not a necessity. I'm over all of the BS online 

Yes, I've felt it for a long time but I've really minimized on socials and always make sure to have total ad-blockage everywhere (sorry to whoever pays for this terrible server) otherwise some pages you're like looking for the actual page content that you cant see because of the sea of ads and everything is corporatized and monetized it's such a pain. 

Personally, I don't have a problem with AI. I find AI interesting. I don't support everything they do with AI but I think it can be a useful tool.  Chatgpt has helped me a lot. What bothers me more is social media. Too much hate, extremisms and too many bots. As you say, we don't even know what's real anymore and I find it frightening. Back then, I used to get so upset about hate comments, but now I always ask myself, are they even real people? 

 

I think we're currently in a transformation phase and that's the reason why the world is so dark right now. As the saying goes: The old world is dying, the new world struggles to be born. Personally, I believe that in the near future, thanks to AI and AR, we'll use the internet differently and social media will be completely different too. I don't know how to explain it, but I believe real life and the internet will completely merge. It does feel like the "old internet" is dying. 

Are you seriously asking this on ATRL?

The internet went from a place of possibilities to the shithole where every interaction means you're being sold to someone, or something is being sold or propagandized to you 

 

 

 

I'm not as plugged into this world as I used to be, but I'm guessing this has a lot to do with the reason most young people have fled to private communities like Discord.

 

But yes, I'd never thought we'd reach a point with the internet where we could say that it used to be better way back when.

15 minutes ago, Achilles. said:

Yes, they call it ens—ification. 
 

The powers that be (tech companies, corporations, governments, etc) are actively making the internet worse because they don't want people using it to find community or access information.
 

Alongside the problems mentioned in the OP, there is also an issue that things that used to be free are increasingly being hidden behind paywalls. News articles, scholarly journals, music charts, even simple things like recipes or knitting patterns are all becoming less accessible due to paywalls. 

All of this!

 

The ridiculous increase of subscriptions EVERYWHERE, and the 3-6-12 months options, with the 12 months being the cheapest 

Don't want to get tracked and have your data collected and used? Better open the purse, baby.

 

We are also losing parts of internet, with many sites and articles being deleted as we speak.

48 minutes ago, Legend E said:

Are you seriously asking this on ATRL?

Honestly as I said above, this place is healthier than social media

 

There are no bots, no MAGAS, it's moderated and we are around the same age groups, no teens or boomers

 

Yeah Atrl was hell when compared to social media 7-8 years ago but now SM its sooo sooo bad that this place is better for my mental health tbh

Have you ever heard of "Dead Internet" theory? Because it's now the reality.

54 minutes ago, Anthinos said:

Personally, I don't have a problem with AI. I find AI interesting. I don't support everything they do with AI but I think it can be a useful tool.  Chatgpt has helped me a lot. What bothers me more is social media. Too much hate, extremisms and too many bots. As you say, we don't even know what's real anymore and I find it frightening. Back then, I used to get so upset about hate comments, but now I always ask myself, are they even real people? 

 

I think we're currently in a transformation phase and that's the reason why the world is so dark right now. As the saying goes: The old world is dying, the new world struggles to be born. Personally, I believe that in the near future, thanks to AI and AR, we'll use the internet differently and social media will be completely different too. I don't know how to explain it, but I believe real life and the internet will completely merge. It does feel like the "old internet" is dying. 

I also use chat gpt and it's a great tool

 

My problem with AI is the fake art and the misinformation, It's actively making the internet worse

 

That Sora app is making videos now that are indistinguishable from real/fake

 

This is so bad in so many levels

 

The internet and Ai have potential to do great things, but it's just mishandled by the people on top

4 hours ago, Trent W said:

Honestly as I said above, this place is healthier than social media

 

There are no bots, no MAGAS, it's moderated and we are around the same age groups, no teens or boomers

 

Yeah Atrl was hell when compared to social media 7-8 years ago but now SM its sooo sooo bad that this place is better for my mental health tbh

That’s actually nice to hear, too bad the site is down so often :’(

I wouldn't say "unusable," but heavily inconvenient and bothersome, at times, especially with the overabundance of ads everywhere. I think that's why I've been making it a point to be outdoors more, especially as the seasons change and it's just more comfortable to be. I'm tired of looking at screens and devices all day. I do that at work, and I also do it in my free time—for more enjoyable purposes, however. 

 

I definitely believe in balance, though, and the internet is a good way to still connect with people, learn new information and stream music and videos. But it can be too much, which it varies from person to person.

 

Overall, I just hate that something is always trying to be sold to me. 

41 minutes ago, VibraniumHarmony said:

I wouldn't say "unusable," but heavily inconvenient and bothersome, at times, especially with the overabundance of ads everywhere. I think that's why I've been making it a point to be outdoors more, especially as the seasons change and it's just more comfortable to be. I'm tired of looking at screens and devices all day. I do that at work, and I also do it in my free time—for more enjoyable purposes, however. 

 

I definitely believe in balance, though, and the internet is a good way to still connect with people, learn new information and stream music and videos. But it can be too much, which it varies from person to person.

 

Overall, I just hate that something is always trying to be sold to me. 

Ditch Chrome, switch to FireFox and install uBlock (it's an ads block). It would completely transform your internet experience.
I also felt the same way, but at least ads block completely wipes out all the intrusive ads and I can experience the internet in a somewhat normal manner again.