Reading. I was such a bookworm before YouTube became accessible on phones.

I would always have two books going at a time. Reading was part of my bedtime routine. Now I just fall asleep watching YouTube stuff that I’d be no worse off if I didn’t watch. Except ma girl Moriah, she’s influenced a lot of my art and craft projects.

My nephews and nieces were raised on YouTube and mobile games. They literally do not know how to play imagination games, they need so much coaching and direction. As kids, we were always acting out our own scenes from TV shows or just our own imaginations. We’d play at lost explorers, under the sea adventures, Captain Planet, etc. It’s sad that the kids in my family just have everything fed to them by YouTube, they don’t know how to imagine games like this.

Heck, we used to dig up bits of broken crockery and be so proud of this bit of random teacup we found. It’s definitely an antique and not just a cup someone broke a few years ago.

Being unreachable without it feeling weird—peace was built into the day.

Socializing in a spontaneous way.

You showed up, no idea who was gonna be there. Genuine unplanned interactions and meet new people.

Getting together in person to socialize.

Calling friends on the phone and having an actual conversation being a normal thing. And heck, you might get to know their family a little too because you never knew who was going to pick up the phone.

Feeling perfectly confident without a phone in your pocket. Driving somewhere unfamiliar? No worries, if you get lost just pull over at a gas station and ask for directions.

Being free and on your own when out and about. No constant distractions and interruptions from a cell phone and people trying to get your attention via your digital tether.

Limited choice in game, movie, and TV (no downloads/streaming on a whim) meant sometimes you were bored with what you had, so you’d go outside to have fun, or over to a friend’s house.

The ideas and innovations that you would have because your brain wasn’t constantly bombarded by distractions and overstimulation.

Technological developments feeling exciting and inspiring optimism for a better world rather than dystopian and oppressive.

Reduced expectations; people didn’t expect everything instantly and the pace of life felt more chill.

Feeling like a real person in a real world.

The quiet

I miss the higher level of engagement and interactions with another person or group when socializing.

Now that everyone has a computer in their pocket, they have an alternative (and sometimes primary) source to engage with during social interactions and events. Now instead of using social skills to change, deepen, or otherwise adjust conversation and engagement on an individual or group level, many people opt out and zone out on their phones instead.

It started with texting. I noticed that at parties or small group interactions, people would oscillate between interacting with the group and texting others either in attendance or not, whichever entertained/engaged them the most. Suddenly instead of parties being full of people who were there to be there and interact with others there, they became full of people who were there until the next exciting thing flashed on their screens and they would just leave without even really being there anyway.

What I’m saying is that people used to be engaged and dedicated in a more wholistic way when socializing, and I miss that. I hate that texting others while you have someone right in front of you that you agreed to spend time with is normal. I hate that I can’t trust anyone to value my time as much as I do theirs, and that apparently I’m taking it too seriously if I do.

Coming back to my dorm room and listening to my drunk friends messages they left on my answering machine.

Not linked directly to the tech, but generally the thing I miss the most was the optimism. In the 90s people were excited for the future. Crime was trending down, the economy was doing well, the government was paying down the debt, the internet was new and full of wonder. In general there was a push for you to be whatever you wanted to be no matter who you were. The beginning of a lot of breaking down and removing stereotypes and gender norms.

Some of this seems to have reversed, most of it ended on 9/11/2001. That attack killed a lot of the optimism and things line the PATRIOT ACT really put us on the dystopian track we find ourselves on now. Also a lot of the economic boom were from the deregulation that would cause massive problems later…

So, yeah generally I miss the optimism we had.

My son is about to be 13, doesnt have his own phone, hardly plays video games, and often doesnt watch Tv instead chooses to play outside.

He finally found a kid in the neighborhood who also isnt screen addicted and its so nice to see them play. Shortly after school hours, you see either my son or the other kid start circling on their bike waiting for the other kid to come out. Then they play outdoors for hours. They come home from their neighborhood adventures sometimes covered in mud, with new scrapes and out of breath from running and playing. I love it! I love to hear them laughing and enjoying their time, I love that they are learning social skills, figuring out who they are, while not comparing themselves to what they see on the internet. It’s fantastic.

Recently a teacher was taken aback when said he didnt have a phone (he uses mine to text friends) and I scoffed a bit inside with pride. My kid has healthy self esteeme and makes friends everywhere he goes. It brings me a lot of joy to see him thrive in this way, hes begining to learn independence and idk, I love it for him.

Everything. The world had so much before we started spending our present in phones. I had time for art and hobbies and writing. I did so much exploration and sports and socializing. Road trips, and events, and helping others. Things were memorable.

Now is more like an addiction. The time goes but I’m never sure where it went. I barely have time to sleep, much less any other activities

Lack of expectation that wherever I am and whatever I do anyone can just call me to get instant answer.

Also - less societal control. Kids nowadays can’t go anywhere in public without their parents. They either get kicked out, have police sicced at them, or spaces where anyone can hang out for free are regularly erased. Case in point - even online spaces are now slowly closed from non-adults. In my youth one could go to any of the public spaces and hang out there for free with nobody troubling you.

World now feels like it’s strongly geared towards raising slaves - always available, always under control, even rest seems to be paywalled.

Those before what? For you it feels likethere was a “before" and a now, but for me (54 years old) it feels like continuity. So many people keep asking this question, or promoting some pseudo “better before” era, that I’m starting to wonder if the world didn’t just wake up dumb.When cellphones didn’t exist, the idea of a cellphone‑based world didn’t even occur to us…except in science fiction. Now that I have a smartphone, I’m just glad I can video‑call my kid, buy groceries online while I’m on the road, and get home to cook. There’s nothing “better” or “worse.” Rude people always existed. In my time, you’d walk into a room, say hello, and there was always that one guy who wouldn’t even lift his eyes from his sports magazine.

Not being constantly bombarded with information. Not just the internet, but every source of information (TV, radio, music, even written media) has grown by orders of magnitude. Then you pile email, messaging, social media etc on top of that, dump a shitload of advertising on top of the whole mess, add on a bunch of algorithms to keep you hooked and AI to churn out drivel. We went from information scarcity to a ludicrous excess and perhaps people of my age find it hard not to try to voraciously consume all we can, because that’s what we did when we were young, when it was scarce.

Life was quieter back then. You had to find ways to fill your time. Read a book. Draw something. Make something. Of course you can still do those things but now I have to fight to find the time and attention. We live in a world of constant interruption, so many things fighting for our attention. It’s tiring.

Being inaccessible was a hidden pleasure. Just be where you are

Funnily enough I miss the internet. You can kind get the same experience in the right places, but it’s not quite the same vibe.