The Internet: Our Beginnings

[Crystal Berry]

I have a few questions for you guys! I thought the idea for this thread during a conversation I had with the user Sun :)

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?

 

[Imperator161]

1. My parents got our first "modern" computer with Windows 95 when I was 6, and I think I may have tried out the internet on my dad's account. I made my own email address (AOL and dial-up) a little bit later, maybe when I was 8 or so?

2. The first time I made an "account" for a website was when I was 10, though I didn't use forums on that site. I first joined a forum website, for the purposes of discussion, when I was 13. (I actually didn't know that most forums insisted that you be 13 to join; I just happened to join my first one, NSider, when I was between 13 and 14.) My internet usage really increased after I turned 13, as that's when I got a laptop and my parents upgraded from dial up. I've never been that into social media, and I didn't make a social media account (Facebook) until I was 18 and almost off to college.

3. My grammar has always been fairly good. I'm not perfect, but I try to use proper, grammatically correct English when I can. My writing has certainly evolved over time, but I never experienced a grammatical epiphany when it came to my internet ramblings.

4. I've grown up. A lot of change has come with that, though I doubt much of it has to do with my internet usage. That being said, I began using the internet in elementary school, primarily for fun. As an adult, I now spend most of my waking moments using the internet in one way or another, whether for work or for leisure. Along the way, I've developed new interests, learned many things, and explored opportunities I didn't know existed when I was younger. Interestingly, Pokemon has been an enduring hobby for most of my internet-using years, and many of my early internet searches were Pokemon-related (mainly information about Missingno and glitches).

5. I remember making my first email address, and finding out about what the internet had to offer. I also have a lot of good memories of the various forums and websites I belonged to in elementary school through early high school, and the people I met along the way. Also, anything with the dial-up screen and the phone dialing noises triggers nostalgic memories for me (as does the voice on AOL that used to say "You've got mail!").

 

[Sydian]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
I don't know really cause like it was around, but I wasn't really allowed to click "the blue e" so lol.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
I was 11 when I joined Neopets...what's kind of interesting is that I went back to it a few years ago and only wanted to play games. When I was 11 though, I didn't wanna play games at all, I just wanted to talk on the boards. Haha.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
I've always been good in English classes and with grammar and such, so I think I was still good with it even back when I was younger. Like not perfect, but you know.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
Let's just say my usernames aren't like iloverupertgrint7766's anymore.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
I named one of my Neopets "Unexpected_Visitor" once and I still think it's the funniest thing ever because it's so stupid and kind of creepy.

 

[pkmin3033]

1. I was nine, I think. I was still in Primary School, so I can't have been any older than eleven...it was such a long time ago, and the 90s are one big blur for me, aha.

2. Thirteen.

3. Above average for someone of my age. I never used chatspeak, and had good spelling, grammar and punctuation drilled into me by my teachers. Plus I was a little precocious. Just a little.

4. I would hope quite a bit, since I was around nine years old and am now twenty-five. It'd be quite depressing if I hadn't changed at all during that time...although I expect my mother would say the only real difference is that I've gotten bigger and have a wider vocabulary with which to complain. xD

5. Oh god, I have so many. I remember dialup. I really wish I didn't, but I do. The screeching noises it made as it connected still haunt my dreams sometimes. You had to come off the internet if you wanted to use the phone, and that always used to annoy the hell out of me. Although I only had ten hours a week until I was about thirteen; then it got changed to four hours per day, and it wasn't until I circumvented it by using Internet Explorer instead of AOL that my mother finally got rid of the restriction.

I remember the very first forum I joined was the official Baten Kaitos one, which shut down around 2006 and scattered all of us; the only person I'm in contact with from there still is my closest friend. I remember the first RP forum, Legacy Forums (not the WOW one you'll find if you google that) that I joined when I was fourteen, and everyone else on it was in their thirties and knew each other IRL...I got a none-too-gentle crash course in roleplaying from the admin, who I met on another forum. I haven't spoken to him in ages, unfortunately.

I remember Janime, which was my first major forum, which I loved to pieces until the admin turned into a Nazi and everyone left. I grew up in that place, I think of all the forums I've been on that one shaped me the most. I remember the era of Invisionfree forums; my peers at Secondary School and I would all post on those after school, and a new one would pop up literally every week. I think my tendency for anonymity stems from that period, as I never wanted them to find out who I was.

I remember when Myspace and Livejournal were both really huge things, back before Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr essentially ruined social media by turning it into a toxic warzone. Everyone had a Myspace, and I could never get mine to look the way I wanted it to! I still have access to my first LJ, which I made back in 2006...I am none too proud of the entries in it and very glad they're set to private, haha.

I've lost contact with so many of my friends online that it's actually quite painful to think about, and it's one of the main reasons I'm so reluctant to make new ones...a lot of them were central figures in my life whilst I was growing up, because I didn't have many friends IRL. I suppose that sounds very sad, but I got very attached to a lot of them, and I really wish we hadn't fallen out of contact. Most of my nostalgia is of moments when I met some of them, and the conversations we used to have. I really miss a lot of them still.

 

[Aslan]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?

About 5 or 6! I used the internet to play flash games, Milsberry, Neopets and the online Hot Wheels games. With searching and browsing, I didn't do much of that till I was in second grade, I think? I got super interested into researching animals and I'd make colourful reports on Word every weekend for my parents to read.

2. How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?

PC was the first time I joined a forum, actually! I first came here in January 2012 a few months after I'd turned 10 but it wasn't till a few months later that I made a proper account and stuck around.

I also remember thinking about joining the Neopets boards when I was very into the game but I think I forgot all about that.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?

It was okay, I guess? It wasn't spectacular when I was 10 but I'd been doing tutoring for English for a few years so that helped with trying to word my thoughts. I'm pretty sure I was rather obnoxious when it came to talking to people then though, haha.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?

Quite a bit but not spectacularly a lot! There's a drastic difference between being 8 and now but since I first joined PC, its only been almost 4 years? I've changed a lot in terms of typing style and maybe personality but I can't say for sure honestly.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?

Almost didn't see this one so editing it in now! I think playing all those online games with my sister were some of the most nostalgic for me. We had such a good time together but we don't play much anymore. :[

 

[Sydian]

I forgot to tell my greatest internet story and it needs its own post. So right on the crux of Y2K right, like it had just become 2000. I was at my grandmother's house with my cousins and I'll never forget this. Two of my older cousins were in the kitchen on the computer and one of them looks the other dead in the eye and was like, "You wanna go to fart.com?"

That was when I realized that the internet had no limits.

 

[Starry Windy]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
I'm not sure when I started using the internet, but I think it's about age 15-17 when I was asked to go to the internet cafe by one of my cousins.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
I joined my first forum (which is in here) when I was 19 years old, even though technically, it was on several days before I'm becoming 20.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
Hmm, I think my grammar back then are not quite well, but I'm still learning even now.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
I'm starting to become a bit more confident (even though I'm still shy at times).

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
Actually, I was posting on a certain site once to report about the bug of a certain game several months before I decided to join in here, and then the developers are responding and fixing the bug that I mentioned, which makes me want to open more on the internet, hence I'm joining PC forum that I've been lurking for years.

 

[Ullion]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
I think I may have been around 6 or 7. I didn't use internet back then like I do now or anything, obviously. It was horribly slow dial-up internet and I only used it to connect to battle.net to play Diablo 1 for multiplayer purposes.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
My first forum was PokeCommunity which I joined when I was 14 years old. I got MySpace shortly after and I think I got facebook a little bit after that. I never really used myspace though past the first day. I still use FaceBook to keep in touch with friends over long distances :3

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
Awful. It still is, as most people in the UG skype chat could attest to. One habit I had really bad back then was typos like "nad" "ahd" and stuff. Uuuuugh

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
Well, seeing as how it's been around 18 years, I'd imagine I've changed lots. I became more of an individual, I learned about life and I slowly learned how to socialize (sort of) and I gained more of an identity. I think I've also become more patient and down-to-earth than I once was. But spanning 18 years, I'd imagine most people would have changed in similar ways.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
This is a toughie. All the other questions I could answer at the top of my head life nothing. I think the most nostalgic feeling I get is back to the time when I was balancing University and doing all-nighters playing HoN. I loved the game so much back then, and when DotA2 came out I was SO hyped. But the pacing of DotA2 just isn't the same. I miss the vector-skills and sharper and brighter colours and artstyle. I felt like HoN was a dark, angsty looking environment whereas DotA2 is some classical art piece from the Renaissance. If that makes any sense XD

 

[Bay]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?

I'm not exactly sure when, but I know I started using it on a regular basis when I started high school (around 2003).

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?

I was mostly lurking until 17 when I joined Serebii forums.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?

I started posted fanfic, and let's just say there were many grammar mistakes (awkward sentences and tense switching mostly), haha. I also remember before whenever I post I don't double space my paragraphs. I'm able to improved on those aspects, though.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?

I like to think I've changed quite a bit!

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?

I remember when Myspace and Livejournal were both really huge things, back before Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr essentially ruined social media by turning it into a toxic warzone. Everyone had a Myspace, and I could never get mine to look the way I wanted it to! I still have access to my first LJ, which I made back in 2006...I am none too proud of the entries in it and very glad they're set to private, haha.

I've lost contact with so many of my friends online that it's actually quite painful to think about, and it's one of the main reasons I'm so reluctant to make new ones...a lot of them were central figures in my life whilst I was growing up, because I didn't have many friends IRL. I suppose that sounds very sad, but I got very attached to a lot of them, and I really wish we hadn't fallen out of contact. Most of my nostalgia is of moments when I met some of them, and the conversations we used to have. I really miss a lot of them still.

More or less me too. I also remember when I used MySpace and Livejournal regularly. MySpace not anymore, but I still check LJ occasionally since I know some people that still use it (moreso my older fandom friends).

Also same here with lost contacts. =< I made a lot of friends when I first joined the Pokemon fandom and while there are a few I still keep in contact with, many of them I wasn't able to communicate with anymore.

 

[Universe]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
8 i think.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
11, and it was PC and Serebii. :) if you count Myspace as social media still, i had accounts for that too.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
pretty good for my age, i'd say! used to be a stickler for good grammar.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
you wouldn't even think we're the same person if you looked back a year ago, much less all the way back to internet infancy.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
PLAYING HOBBO HOTEL ALL THE TIME. then subsequently finding MMORPGS as a result, Flyff being the first i ever played. i thought they were the most amazing things to ever exist. roleplaying throughout all those years was a huge blast as well.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?

I'd say I was probably 9 or so? Though I really didn't use it for anything back then other than like looking up Pokemon things lol

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?

I joined MySpace when I was 13 :x

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?

My grammar has always been good when I try to type properly!

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?

Well when I first came here I had numbers in my name so....8D

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?

Honestly googling silly Pokemon cheats and believing things like "Mew is under the truck in RBY" :(

 

[Nolafus]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
I want to say I started using it regularly when I was twelve.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
PC was my first forum, and I joined when I was seventeen. I made my Facebook account when I was fourteen, but it didn't take too long for me to stop using that.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
I've always been a stickler for grammar, but you don't know many of the rules past the basics when you're younger. I was decent, but you could still tell that I was young.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
I'm definitely a different person, Heck, I'm a very different person than who I was last year, let alone eight years ago. I think I've changed for the better. Through some of my online friends, I've learned to accept who I am, and PC is where I discovered my love of writing. So I have a lot of growth I should thank the internet for.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
I remember teaming up with my twin to stay up way later than we should have. We waited until my parents went to sleep, then played Runescape for hours. Runescape in general was practically half of my childhood. I never did have a membership, but that was never a big deal to me. I spent so many hours playing that game, it was ridiculous. Despite what my dad kept telling me, I don't think I've ever regretted it either.

 

[Aquacorde]

oh my loooord okay here we go.

I was ten when I first started really using the internet. I spent a few months hanging out at the library and using their computers to play Runescape cause that's what I was introduced to by the neighbor kid. Pretty soon I started doing other things, discovering Pokémon fanfics and fansites. Holla if you remember Pokémopolis and Pojo lmaooo. And the vast conglomerations of geocities fansites and similar oh boy.

That all dropped me in the lap of PokéCommunity pretty quick. Three days before turning eleven, I signed up here for PokéAni/Shipping Debates. That was... probably only surprising to me lmao cause I did not remember what brought me here until I did some digging a few months ago. PC was my first experience with social media in general, really. I mean eleven years ago there wasn't too much beyond forums...

I was a relatively antisocial child struggling with undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome and anxiety. I was well-read and highly worried about people's perception of me, so my grammar was as perf as my lil self could make it. For a while. After some time I fell into the standard internet dialect of the age. Who doesn't want to fit in?

I've changed a hell of a lot, thank god. I mean primarily, I've grown up haha. Been diagnosed with a few things. Overcame most of the limitations of Asperger's on my own, am getting help with my anxiety. Experienced a lot of things, met a lot of people. PC really has helped shape me tbh.

I don't think I have much for nostalgic memories really but... struggling with playing Pokémon Crater on dial-up internet. Summers playin' Runescape at the library, catcking/cooking then selling fish to people down in the giants place. Time limits on library computers; the joy of going on weekdays for the extra half hour. Later, time limits on home computers and figuring out how to break the program to allow infinite time.* The good days of GaiaOnline. Playing stupid flash games and watching weirdass series in this new medium. Coming back to PC after a few years, using school computers to visit. I dunno, man. Lots of things actually lmao.

*on an old dell desktop running XP, forced windows media player to try to burn a cd before time limit was up. the computer was incapable of doing so and would force everything to stay open as it tried, confusing and negating Watchdog. or something. i broke that **** hard.

 

[Lucid]

It was a cold September morning in 1998. Back then, Gateway computers were still a thing, and the monstrosity came in 4 a cow printed boxes. I awaited anxiously as it was hooked up by a family friend, because in 1998, plumbers probably knew how computers worked. Probably. Then it was a descent into shitty pop ups, AOL chat rooms and bad flash animation.

I was 14 when I first joined this forum! It was prob my first one! My grammar is way worse now, I used to actually try to type out full words. I've changed a lot, I only reply to post how I'd reply to a text or something to a friend now. As for nostalgic? Spam spam spam, trollollollollo

 

[Aisu]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet? Eh... Around five or six; it was around the time of Windows XP and Windows Vista.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media? I was eleven or twelve when I first joined a social media, and a little older when I joined a Forum.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform? Crappy, to say the least, but in my defense I didn't know grammar very well back then (and I'm still learning now!); my parents, who aren't American nor spoke English where they were from, weren't good leads.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet? A lot. I've learned how dangerous the internet can be, so yeah.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories? Joining a Forum, making a FaceBook, virtual worlds - yeah, virtual worlds is my most nostalgic internet memory. I practically worshiped them.

 

[Sylphiel]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
Depends on what I count as "internet". ;D But I'll say around 12 or 13 years old, since that's when my parents got a proper internet connection - dialup instead of some long-distance AOL number. I barely count that AOL as internet as it was rarely used because of the whole long-distance thing.

Although if that AOL were to be counted...then about 8 or 9 years old.

2: How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
I think...17 or 18? Not only did I not use the internet as much before then, I was also mostly just visiting webpages, not actual forums. I didn't get into anything like that until I got brave enough to join a yahoo group one day - which, funny enough, was a group for posting pokemon fanart.

That's for anything like a forum, though. If you want to count things like IRC, I was inhabiting a few chatrooms (and I'm sure being a downright nuisance while doing so) at the age of 13. I shall not talk about those days, though. X)

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
Decent. Although I was guilty of using some text speak (2 for "too", u for "you", mostly the milder stuff), although it wasn't because I didn't know how to write, it was because I thought that was the thing to do online. Everyone else seemed to be doing it, so why not me!

(That was more towards the beginning of my internet ventures, though. Once I got older and actually started getting into forums, I think by then I had realized that I might as well just write in a more normal manner. It was far less of a pain to do so.)

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
Not sure. I still lurk around places a bunch. I'm probably a little more outgoing than when I first started. I would never have thought of joining forums then, I remember hemming and hawing over possibly joining sites, and then never actually doing so because I was so nervous.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
Oh gosh. I'm not even sure. Maybe some of the things from the roleplaying group I used to inhabit. Or maybe even way before then, when I was trying to find Final Fantasy-related things and found some neat websites that I liked visiting on a regular basis (until they shut down :( ).

 

[Emboar]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?

I think I was first introduced to it when I was 7, but I started using it myself when I was 8 or 9.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?

I joined my first forum after I had just turned 9.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?

I don't think it was terrible, but I still made a lot of mistakes, like not putting a space after a period.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?

Well, I've matured A LOT since I was 9, and developed some social skills.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?

My very first forum. I still visit it daily, even though it's dead af.

 

[Nuclearkiller42]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
I have no idea. My memory is really bad so I just don't remember things that happened a lot of time ago, like this.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
I joined Facebook when I was still pretty young, but I barely use it anyway. I joined my first forum in 2013, but I didn't start to be really active until February of this year.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
It was awful. Sometimes I look at old posts I made in some sites and I just feel awkward for how bad my grammar was.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
A lot. I changed a lot when I turned 14.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
Well... There was Neopets, it was pretty fun. And there were some Flash games that I used to play. But I don't have a lot of nostalgic memories from the internet, most of them are from cartoons and videogames.

 

[Candy]

1. How old were you when you first started using the internet?
2006-2007-ish through my father's laptop. 2008 was the first time my desktop computer had any form of internet connection.

2. How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
I think I joined SPPf first before I had a Facebook account, which was back December 2008. I was only 12.

3. How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
Aside from the emoticon and smiley abuse it's pretty good for a foreigner lol.

4. How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
2008 - Browsing on a Pokemon Forum (SPPf)
2015 - Browsing on a Pokemon Forum (PC)

aka pretty much the same except I know a lot more sites now lol

5. What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
Being active on SPPf without suffering through the cliques people have created. Like, I remember when I was really active on the Gender Race thread, and I made this group of friends and we kept posting over there that we might be considered as a clique. However, people can still post in and not worry about getting ignored 'cause we'll still say hi at least, and probably invite them to join the conversation.

Then back at either early 2012 or late 2013 I tried entering the thread again, but the regular posters never actually noticed me or even say hi. It really hits on me when I know the forum I used to frequent so much has evolved into something I don't like at all. Plus I made the V.2 thread. Hello? No recognition over here? Well whatever screw you Gender Race peeps.

I'm still in touch with the peeps I made friends with on the SPPf Gender Race. Although, we're now really busy with university. Can't believe this group of junior high and high school students now has peeps on their last year of university, and that the youngest (aka me) is on her second year right now. Man, time has passed a lot.

I tend to go to the forums once in a while, say hi to the old contacts who most of them have already started university as well, and just think of all the thing I have done that has shaped me in my forum experiences...

...Actually, I might go back, ask for some of my close buddies' Skype usernames if they have one, and we can just chat through there. Yeah, that's a good plan haha.

 

[Usagi-Chan~]

1: How old were you when you first started using the internet?
Probably about 5/6, that's when I first remember playing games on the Cartoon Network website and navigating it around on my own. I was addicted to the old Scooby Doo mystery games they had.

2 How old were you when you first joined a forum or other forms of social media?
I wanna say when I was 8, because I joined my first forum, Pokémon Online, about a year before I joined on here. I joined actual social media when I was like 10 and got a Facebook though.

3: How was your grammar when you first began using the internet as a social platform?
Lemme just quote one of my first posts from when I joined in 2007

do you meen spelling wat do you meen

I was an atrocious speller when I first joined, but I was like 9. I was so used to it being normal on the last forum I was on that I didn't think people would care here, then I got in a really big fight with like a 15 year old because I wanted to join an RP he was hosting and he wouldn't let me because I didn't spell well on here.

4: How much do you think you've changed since the time you first hopped onto the internet?
I think I've literally completely changed, mostly because I've grown up with the internet so much, that I'm a much different person than I was when I first started using it socially about a decade ago.

5: What are some of your most nostalgic internet memories?
I've made some really good memories over the years. I'll try to limit it to stuff at least 3+ years in the past since it's "nostalgia", but there've been a bunch of friends on here that have come and gone that I really liked and got along with, a few still keep in touch at least at a distance through social media. I'm really fond of the pair that I've had for like, jesus, at least 4 or 5 years, on here. Even if we don't talk as often whenever I come back I shoot him a message, we've had some funny af conversations through VMs. There was one guy on here who was like 16 when I was 12, and like he was like one of the first openly gay members I'd ever met, and by talking to him some, even though I wouldn't realize/admit it for a while after he disappeared off the forums without a trace, helped me come to terms with my own sexuality.