I think what you describe has more to do with the population in general than the artificial limits of the various mediums.
In BBS and early Internet days (pre-95 or so), people who were using computers were highly intelligent. Certainly above average.
These days, everyone and their dog is on the Internet. The masses have moved in and thus the medium shifted to accommodate them, by dumbing itself down to the lowest common denominator. With the shift away from a knowledge repository to advertising and consumerism ("the spectacle") the SnR has dropped significantly.
In cybernetic terms, during the early years of the Internet, the space acted upon you, by programming you. Thus, if you lacked knowledge, you had to put in the time and educate yourself in order to explore and learn to use this new space efficiently. Cyberspace forced you to get better.
These days, the opposite happens. The masses act upon the space and dictate its evolution, downwards.
Looking back, I can't help but mourn what could have been but I also feel enormously lucky to have lived through it all.
To this degree I definitely agree with you: NextDoor is unbearable. The internet has trained everyone, and they carry that into their micro-local communities. Early days had a qualification element.
In BBS and early Internet days (pre-95 or so), people who were using computers were highly intelligent. Certainly above average.
These days, everyone and their dog is on the Internet. The masses have moved in and thus the medium shifted to accommodate them, by dumbing itself down to the lowest common denominator. With the shift away from a knowledge repository to advertising and consumerism ("the spectacle") the SnR has dropped significantly.
In cybernetic terms, during the early years of the Internet, the space acted upon you, by programming you. Thus, if you lacked knowledge, you had to put in the time and educate yourself in order to explore and learn to use this new space efficiently. Cyberspace forced you to get better.
These days, the opposite happens. The masses act upon the space and dictate its evolution, downwards.
Looking back, I can't help but mourn what could have been but I also feel enormously lucky to have lived through it all.