Where did we go wrong?

[yankii]

So I went on Reddit and Discord after quite some time and everything's so different from "back in the day". Yes, they've never been bastions of positivity but they've never been this negative and echo chamber-y. This site is one of the very, very few that's not constantly being negative and doomer-like all the time.

Has it always been like this, or did we go wrong somewhere?

 

[Scarlet]

You don't think this site is the same? Have you seen any Nintendo related post recently? lol

 

[yankii]

You don't think this site is the same? Have you seen any Nintendo related post recently? lol

I have but it's just a bunch of broke kids who are mad they can't play the new Mario Kart for free. Nothing that bad. Or new.

 

[Nivium]

I do not know the answer(s) but I completely understand what's being asked because I can see it myself as well.
To quickly portray my observations, I notice that GBATemp isn't a whole lot different, either. Especially in the Echo Chamber-y category you portrayed. It's generally the same: A post about a small individual/entity making a homebrew project, no matter what it is, highly praised. A post about Nintendo doing anything, good or bad, highly negative. A post about Pokemon, for the MOST part, praised unless it's related to Palworld. A post about Palworld, good or bad, highly praised...
Of course I'm generalizing highly so it's a bit inaccurate but the fact that there's little deviation to common opinionated trends enough to a point where I can literally pinpoint an exact pattern just proves that even GBATemp is not spared from the Echo Chamber-y category you mention. Relating to the "Negativity", I also don't think GBATemp is spared from it. Most of the posts depicting hate, name-calling or general distress get the most responses and views than ones that are more optimistic which I have noticed on a LOT of platforms such as the Steam Community section of a game I frequent due to me developing mods for said game. I know there's a thing that people say which is roughly equivalent to meaning that the majority of people that are vocal of their opinion don't always mean the majority have that opinion but the truth is that it really doesn't matter if the vocal majority are an accurate representation of the majority with opinions on said subject or not. What matters is that the majority that are vocal decide to be vocal about negativity and, instead, are quiet when things are meant to be positive and enjoyable to read.
Is that good? Is that bad? Well I guess that's up to you to decide.

I'm in no way a social media user in the way that is considered a social media user by standard (I don't use Twitter, Tik Tok, phone apps with scrolling and commenting on videos, etc.) so I'm not entirely sure what exactly goes down on those platforms but I have come across some of the things from ways such as someone near me and have noticed it's often sexual in nature, echo chamber-y as you mention it and filled with a whole lot of dialect, words and acronyms that're completely foreign to me. Generally none of it seems like a very positive way of living and I have no interest in living it. As you've mentioned, often times on the internet, it wasn't necessarily bastions of positivity but I was an avid internet-interactor during mid-late 2000s and meeting people online and actually having a friend didn't used to come down to whether I use iPhone or Android, which social media platforms I use, whether I know or care about a trending meme, concept or event, if I have a lot of followers or, finally, if my opinions align with the majority of the feeds on social medias or not. People aren't perfect and they certainly weren't back then but I know for a fact that back then, it felt so nice to meet people online that I can talk to without them judging my age, sex or appearance and vice-versa just to feel good, unlike what happens in real life where it's difficult to connect with people that decide to open to me. Today, however, it feels worse to talk to people online than it does offline. Offline is worse than it used to be as people are sucked into their phones when you want to hang out with them or even talk to them anyway... So how could online be worse than that? Unfortunately it feels like it and I just feel too uncomfortable seeing how people interact with eachother online often times these days than I used to back then where it wasn't just people coming online to find validation in numbers instead of coming online to genuinely find happiness. Even when a conversation or area on the internet is positive, it feels staged like it's only positive for the purpose of keeping a groupchat or area of a forum positive, instead of positive because people genuinely aren't negative and enjoy talking to eachother. It's a very alien disconnect.

Maybe that's the issue. Coming online for the sole purpose of receiving validation in numbers instead of finding friends to be happy devalued what a friendship is and now friendships can become a bit obsolete online which creates this very uncomfortable 'human' interaction in an online environment.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I have but it's just a bunch of broke kids who are mad they can't play the new Mario Kart for free. Nothing that bad. Or new.

How's that different from any other place?

It's popular to hate on Nintendo these days, and not without reason. The asinine price of consoles, games and accessories right now is certainly a large contributor to that. Combine that with Game Key Cards, Nintendo intentionally blocking the use of 3rd party docks, people getting banned for using them, and them recently banning a charity speedrunning event from showcasing their games this year, just to mention a few, it's not surprising that people are ticked off. It'll only improve when Nintendo stops making anti-consumer decisions on the regular. Every other week they give people a new reason to dislike them. And we are not exempt from Nintendo's bad decisions on this site, more than any other.

 

[Robert Newbie]

I don't have an explanation, but I can tell you what the internet was like back in the 90's.

Back then, we had AOL. With the exception of the AOL main screen, we really didn't get bombarded with news outlets. In your Yahoo and Altavista searches, you wouldn't get IGN or Polygon as your first results. You'd get hole-in-the-wall fan sites. If they had a message board, you can bet there'd be a decent amount of activity. All talk was on that subject: Games, cars, whatever. It didn't deviate to real world stuff because it was a novelty just to find like-minded hobbyists.

I really do think around 2006, 2007 is where we began to get cynical. Sometimes, I think it's just my perspective because I was graduating from college and diving right into the recession. To be honest, I think the internet was changing fast too. The internet grew out of its garage band stage fast. Fan websites were pushed to the last pages of search engines in favor of IGN, GameSpot, Vanity Fair, etc. FaceBook, Twitter, and Youtube defined the Social Media age that would lead into TikTok and Youtube shorts.

Along the way, Kickstarter fails added cynicism. Monetization prices added cynicism. Increasing video game prices, classic IP's going into hibernation (or botched reboots), and changing industry standards added cynicism. Malware and bloatware added cynicism. Plus, I'd argue TV shows and movies started a decline in quality. Let's not forget smartphone addiction, adding bad habits, like doomscrolling, to the mix.


TL;DR: I think the less time people spend staring at a screen, the better the world looks. Also, 90's internet had AOL.

 

[JuanMena]

Another "back in my day" thread?

I see there's a point in tine when every single "young adult" will inevitably do this rant.

Anyway, it'll continue to be like this for as long as Internet is treated like a "human right" instead of a tool, there's idiot parents not taking care of their bastards, and internet sites keeps allowing access to an internet virus called children.

Back in my day the only children on the internet where in videos

 

[jkm81]

Another "back in my day" thread?

I see there's a point in tine when every single "young adult" will inevitably do this rant.

Anyway, it'll continue to be like this for as long as Internet is treated like a "human right" instead of a tool, there's idiot parents not taking care of their bastards, and internet sites keeps allowing access to an internet virus called children.

Back in my day the only children on the internet where in videos bro

bro what in the actual heck?

i always stay away from negative posts.

 

[Earthshine]

I have but it's just a bunch of broke kids who are mad they can't play the new Mario Kart for free. Nothing that bad. Or new.

Selective reading. I see so much crappy attitude here often enough that I wonder if many regulars are even actual gamers.

 

[AncientBoi]

Apparently, YOU haven't been to Our "Political" section. js

 

[Lostbhoy]

Apparently, YOU haven't been to Our "Political" section. js

It's dangerous to go alone.....

 

[AncientBoi]

It's dangerous to go alone.....

Take this

 

[zxr750j]

I think this is generally a site where people are genuinely willing to help others with their gaming hardware and software issues. Since it’s in the technical corner, the members here are perhaps a bit less mainstream and more outspoken—which is a good thing.

I do have opinions on America, Trump, weapons, religion, men, women, food, games, soccer, the death penalty, etc. But if you really want to discuss these, come to Utrecht and have a beer with me (I can also share my opinion on which one’s good).