Zoomers are learning about the utopian phase of the early internet and wondering where it all went wrong. TikTok user @mukbokyopo mourned the old, good internet in an emotional post shared on Oct. 2, 2025.
Featured Video“It makes me so sad to read about web 1.0,” they said. “…all this sh*t used to be so good, and all this sh*t used to, like, mean something positive in the world.”
Commenters across generations echoed @mukbokyopo’s distress and blamed capitalism for the decline of the free web. While millennials in the comments shared nostalgia for the early internet, others warned against idealizing the early internet.
They asserted, “it was never good,” and pointed out that the “old good internet” never stood a chance in a political and economic system that runs on profit.
Advertisement“Web 1.0 idealism was always a mirage because they would not embrace an anti-capitalist ethos. The open source ideology explicitly adopted this kind of benevolent capitalism mirage that made it seem like somehow the greed that underwrites that mode of operation wouldn’t corrupt the entire enterprise.”
“Do any other zoomers read about early internet and cry?”
@mukbokyopo cried as they compared the web 1.0 vision of an anarchic information-sharing platform designed to connect people and build knowledge with the present-day internet of social media-fueled surveillance capitalism.
Advertisement“It’s actually the most heartbreaking sh*t ever… It’s greedy f**ks dominating everything over and over again,” said @mukbokyopo.
@mukbokyopo Reading “life in code” by ellen ullman was truly a fucking game changer…….. fuck me!!!!! Join cj the x’s book club… lol…… #internet #newyorker #timbernerslee ♬ original sound – 🍰🍓🍰🍓
“It was a loser takeover”
The video resonated with commenters who are anxiously watching the internet devolve into something dystopian. Social media users from older generations affirmed @mukbokyopo’s concerns and shared context about the early internet.
Advertisement“As a millennial you are 100% right. It was a special time and it felt special. I made friends on weird message boards that I’m still friends with. Capitalism really is the disease.”
“Most technology is like this. Before the Internet, there used to be free unregulated radio, self published zines and public access TV! Now we have like four conglomerates that own all old-school media.”
Advertisement”Capitalism colonized the internet.”
”It was a loser takeover 😭😭😭.”
Advertisement@mukbokyopo did not immediately reply to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok.
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