Image via Complex Original
The Internet was filled with a lot of bugs back in its early days, and there are many things we have today that we take for granted (the Internet on our freakin' phones, for one.) But, just as the Internet has evolved, so have we: we're constantly online now, our backgrounds our instantly searchable, and entire businesses that have changed the world are completely digital. The Internet, for what it's worth, was a luxury decades ago. Though some of the things back then are ancient now, it's always nice to look back at the good things about the World Wide Web in its infancy, back when it was a playground for nerds, and not a necessity in our lives. Take a trip down memory lane with The Best Things About the Early Internet Era.
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The feeling after you came up with a clever Away Message on AIM.
You never had to pretend you didn't recognize someone from the Internet when you saw them in person.
Your relationship status was private, and you weren't pressured to change it.
You never felt forced to upload every little detail about your life to the Internet.
You were able to stay anonymous.
Everybody had to watch America's Funniest Home Videos to get their cute animals fix.
Trolls lived under bridges and stayed there.
Napster opened up a world of music like never before.
"You've got mail!" Email was still fun and people were disappointed when nothing was there.
Not everything had a "social" component to it. Sometimes, things were there for you to enjoy, and nothing else.
UrbanExpose.com was the go-to site for gossip in the hip-hop world.
The feeling of superiority you got from being able to go online while others still didn't know how.
Rotten.com was your one stop shop for photos from your nightmares.
Being able to say dumb things online and not having any consequences in real life.
Less crotch shots of famous politicians and celebrities.
Catfishing wasn't as easy as it is now.
You could get all of your news for the day on AOL's Welcome Page.
You thought you had the coolest webpage ever when you designed your first GeoCities site.
Doing dumb things in real life without having it posted online.
