Right now the user count Lemmys is comparatively tiny when held up against reddit - but the user count isn’t the thing that makes a social media site, it’s the engagement
So even if you’re used to lurking, try to get a little more active! Post memes, vote on posts, talk in the comments, whatever!
If people come here and see activity, content, and discussions, they’re more likely to stay and contribute their own - if they come and see a ghost town, they’ll just go back to reddit
I’m Gen Z and never got to experience the old internet, but I have seen old posts on stuff like Google Groups and mail lists. The fediverse has a similar vibe, and I like it
I first got online back in 1995 via dial up. My ISP charged by the minute and using the internet meant hogging the phone line, which my parents weren’t too happy with. So how ever long I managed to use the internet back then felt like a privilege.
What I enjoyed the most about the old web were the portals. There were video game-specific portals, band-specific portals, etc. Portals usually included a forum, a front page with the latest news, and downloadable contents (wallpapers, files, etc). Also, the web was mostly made up of personal websites which all looked different from each other.
Something less talked about is how prevalent viruses and trojans were back then. If you were tech-savvy enough, you could create your own ‘trojan’ and infect someone with it. The infected computer could then be controlled remotely via client program. Fun times.