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The Internet Has Shrunk....

ZenG

ZenG

Guest
Dec 13, 2013
6,465
13,121
You can't get there from here
#1
according to one tech guru.........

What he meant was :- The number of sites that people visit daily has plummeted to new lows .....because many people have had a computer for a long time and the thrill has worn off.


Personally when I got my first computer, I went to as many sites as I could get on...just to look around out of curiosity......there were dozens daily and my "favorites" list was about 200 entries.

In the last year I have never gone to more than 5 sites in a day.

Actually I have 4 sites that I go to every day now and that's it.

The same 4 every day. (Not counting Google News).

My "favorites " list is still about now 150 sites........but I never go on them.

How about you?.....how many do you go to on a daily basis.....
 
#3
Yeah, I was noticing this myself recently. When I open a new tab, firefox gives me links to the 10 or 12 sites I visit most often. I hardly ever go to any others. When I do, it's usually because it's a link off one of those. TB, facebook, my email, my bank, the colleges I teach at, youtube, Amazon, craigslist... not a whole lot else.

I think it's a couple of things. The actual content of the internet is greater than ever - which makes it less and less efficient to find what you want by doing a search on google or whatever. Information overload, and a waste of time sifting through bad "hits." Difficult to craft a search that will take you straight to what you want.

And then related to that, the growth of mega-sites like Facebook that effectively become the gateways to any other sites you might be interested in. When I do go to some other website than the ones I listed, it's because someone posted a link to something that looked interesting. Facebook and Youtube especially tend to work that way.
 
#5
hrodbert696 said:
Yeah, I was noticing this myself recently. When I open a new tab, firefox gives me links to the 10 or 12 sites I visit most often. I hardly ever go to any others. When I do, it's usually because it's a link off one of those. TB, facebook, my email, my bank, the colleges I teach at, youtube, Amazon, craigslist... not a whole lot else.

I think it's a couple of things. The actual content of the internet is greater than ever - which makes it less and less efficient to find what you want by doing a search on google or whatever. Information overload, and a waste of time sifting through bad "hits." Difficult to craft a search that will take you straight to what you want.

And then related to that, the growth of mega-sites like Facebook that effectively become the gateways to any other sites you might be interested in. When I do go to some other website than the ones I listed, it's because someone posted a link to something that looked interesting. Facebook and Youtube especially tend to work that way.
Click to expand...

I agree for the most part, but would also add that the marketization of the internet has also led to the orchestrated decline in the number of sites visited per day by an individual. And don't go calling me a grandpa for what you're about to read :D

Back in the day, who knew I would ever say that about the internet, we used to search with Alta Vista. We searched for something and we got links to pages of information. Those pages in turn had links to other pages of information with links, etc. The whole concept of hypertext has been lost due to monetization by the current search engine giants and "social" media. I don't use Google anymore primarily as all of the results have been filtered down so far in an effort to show location-based relevance to products that I can't find simple information anymore without sifting through a myriad of advertising and marketing.

And then there is the "community" aspect of social media like FB, Twitter, SnapChat, etc, etc, ad nauseam. The manufactured "stickiness" which drives sites and "services" like these has diminished the need to explore the wilderness and discover things on your own. No need, someone just posted a cute and fuzzy bunny on FB, everyone quick check it out! And as evidenced by this thread, we're talking about the internet on a site about bass.

I've been on the net since the early days, no pictures, just text, and it has really evolved or devolved depending on your point of view. It went from a vast library that you could easily lose yourself in by surfing site after site. Then the search engines came along and whittled that vastness down to a more manageable smattering of "attractions". With the advent AOL, then MySpace, the trend towards stickiness began that begat social media to further monetize the web. "Don't go looking over there, I have something shiny and you really want to buy it too. Oh you bought it? Let me make of note of that in your profile."

What once was a vast landscape to explore has become a handful of strip malls and distractions, it's like someone put up a Walmart in the reference section.
 
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#7
Tony In Philly said:
I think the fact that Internet users are tracked so relentlessly, with regard to their browsing habits, is creating some severe backlash. How can anybody not be insulted by the stereotypes presented back to them by Google and Amazon by their endless recommendations?
Click to expand...

I alluded to that above with regards to monetization and stickiness. It's all about information gathering. There are a few things you can do to try and combat that to some degree if you want to "fight the man" sort of thing, but nothing is foolproof.

Don't use Google for searches or any other search engine that tracks your habits AND definitely don't use any Google services. Don't use your ISPs DNS servers. Do use tools that block tracking cookies. Don't allow images to load automatically in email. Don't sign up for, use or visit any social media sites.
 
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#8
hrodbert696 said:
And then related to that, the growth of mega-sites like Facebook that effectively become the gateways to any other sites you might be interested in. When I do go to some other website than the ones I listed, it's because someone posted a link to something that looked interesting. Facebook and Youtube especially tend to work that way.
Click to expand...
I think this is the biggest factor. People who used to go to a wide variety of sites for videos can now find everything they want on Youtube, as you mentioned. Another example is online shopping: People who used to shop at a wide variety of sites now just buy everything at Amazon. I don't think people are watching fewer videos or doing any less online shopping; they're just doing those things in one place.
 

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