back in the day

Charlie Brooker doesn't get it. You see his story sounds much like mine, being a part of the burgeoning wave of the Internet’s Geekdom-as-cool that rose from the mid/late-90s through the bubble bursting. But now Mr Brooker seems to feel disconnected from the latest Internet Thing.

Here's what happened: The Internet, as communication medium, is fully part of the fabric of society. The Internet isn't getting there, it isn't new and hip, it is now an institution. A popular site like myspace is now a mass-culture phenomenon. And like everything before it, the younger generations' trends are what's hip.

It's the same thing as his disdain for the term blogsphere. We can safely say that blogs were the domain of the geeky a few years back, but now anyone who wants a voice can participate. The price of admission was knowing the technology. But as the general level of technological aptitude is so much higher than it was 10 years ago, anyone can join in the fun. Thus the blogsphere isn't the geek's domain.

I think it's hard for those who feel they contributed to the rise of the web to be less visible online; the pioneers' strong voices have been drowned out. You used to visit websites and most of them were created by people similar to you, geeky types. But now, with everyone able to publish online, it's like you're walking down a crowded city street.