the fediverse reminds me a lot of how things used to be in the '90s a.k.a. the golden age of computing

back when we all had our own dorky fuckin websites on tripod or angelfire or geocities, all unique, all human

back before the internet was taken over by soulless monolithic corporations bent on forcing spy cameras into their users' every orifice

back before advertisers had built themselves a surveillance empire to dwarf the NSA's

back when we were all genuine and sincere and *ourselves.* even if we were total fuckin dorks

all of a sudden these little grassroots social spaces are popping up, with unique and quirky domains, full of people who aren't such cowards that they spend their lives hiding behind a curtain of ironic detachment. it's like the experimental chaos of the '90s but tempered by experience and improved by new technology

there's a reason IRC and pleroma are the only ways i actually *like* interacting with ppl online