My journey to the heart of the forgotten internet

In 2003, my family brought home our first computer. It was a huge, heavy machine that took up most of our living room desk. I was amazed by it, especially because it could connect to the internet. My parents only allowed me to use the internet for one hour each day, so every minute felt special. Exploring the web back then was like being an adventurer in a new land. I visited strange websites with odd graphics, joined message boards, and played simple Flash games. Sometimes, I would sneak downstairs at night to use the computer when everyone else was asleep. The internet felt mysterious and exciting, full of surprises.

Today, the internet is a normal part of life. I can go online anytime I want, but it does not feel as magical. Most of the websites I visit are the same every day, like social media platforms. These sites are designed to keep us scrolling, but they are not very interesting. Algorithms decide what we see, so it feels like we are being guided along a set path instead of exploring freely. This made me curious about the early days of the internet. I wanted to see if any of the old websites were still around and what they could teach us about the web’s history.

A lot of the old internet is disappearing. Experts say that almost 40 percent of the websites that existed in 2013 are now gone. Websites do not last very long, often only a few months. This has been happening since the internet was created. Some people worry that new technology, like artificial intelligence, will make it even harder for websites to survive. If fewer people visit websites, it will be difficult for them to make money, and the internet could become less creative.

But not everything is lost. Some old websites are still online, and others have been saved in digital archives. The first website ever made is still available. It was created by the inventors of the World Wide Web and is now a museum about the history of the internet. You can visit it using a tool that shows what the web looked like in the early 1990s. Back then, you could not use a mouse, and everything was text-based. The internet was mostly used by scientists and researchers.

In 1996, the internet started to become popular with everyone. Political parties, like the Liberal Party of Canada, made their own websites. These early sites were simple and welcoming, with messages from leaders inviting people to interact. There was a sense of excitement about the possibilities of the web. Today, websites are more polished and professional, but they can feel less personal.

The Internet Archive is a non-profit group that saves old websites so people can visit them later. Their tool, the Wayback Machine, lets you see what websites looked like years ago. I used it to find a chat room for my favorite TV show from when I was a kid. I also found old social media sites and funny websites with games and jokes. One of the first places where people could make their own websites was called GeoCities. It closed in 2009, but many of its pages are still saved in the archive. These old websites are colorful and full of moving pictures. People made them just for fun, not to get lots of visitors or make money.

Looking at these old websites made me realize how different the internet used to be. It was a place where people could be creative and share their interests. Now, the internet is more about big companies and making money. But the old internet shows us that it can be a place for everyone. If we remember the past, maybe we can make the internet more fun and personal again. The early web reminds us that the internet can be a place for creativity and individuality, not just business and algorithms.