7.5 years ago it was perfect

I think this answer depends on age. For me, it was up until right around 2014. That’s when, I think, social media and mobile phones unlocked a number of generally unproductive behavior both personally and in business.

The early 2000s were truly great.

I used Tinder the first (and only) time shortly after its 2012 release – recognizing how dangerous this technology was, I closed my facebook profile (which was then-required to access their meat-matching "dating" service).

For me, Tinder was "the beginning of the downfall" – algorithms picking sexual partners, with a known history of favoritisms for the founder($).

The "for you" pages that started leaking everywhere from facebook to linkedin to reddit since 2014 is the death of the internet. And this is why i only consume old forums like hackernews.

It was perfect when the only way to connect to the internet was a computer.

Smartphones ruined it.

notifications specifically played, and still play, a most prominent role.

2003 was my high-water mark.