Like I remember in the 90s talking on forums to some elite level nerds and geeks that would brag to me "I been on the internet over a decade. Some claiming to have been using it in the 80s, 90s and they have huge game collections lots of cool internet and tech knowledge running obscure old gaming fansites and rare nerd collectibles.
I looked up to them and thought they were really cool. Like an elite club. Once the 2000s started I remember it being harder and harder to find people like this. The last ones I think I saw where in like in 2009 on Final Fantasy fansite and on some Japan import computer tech gaming forum.
Where did these kind of people go?
The last things I heard is they were annoyed with all the "new" casual mainstream people joining the internet with Facebook rising in popularity and how things changed and they were looking to make a place just for themselves.
Nowadays I miss them a lot.
I think they were all Gen X mostly.
They were smart.
All were nerds and geeks in school smart with tech stuff
They were cool in the OG oldschool sort of way
I remember looking up to them like an older brother or uncle
some were married and some were not
They had rare and obscure tech knowledge
Dungeons and Dragons lore, Monty Python and Lord of the Rings were super important with a lot of references I remember.
Where do I go to find them now? Don't say Reddit, Discord, Chans or Facebook because they would NEVER use those sites and most likely look down on those that do.
I miss them CE