The social-media Web as we knew it, a place where we consumed the posts of our fellow-humans and posted in return, appears to be over.
The Internet today feels emptier, like an echoing hallway, even as it is filled with more content than ever. It also feels less casually informative. Twitter in its heyday was a source of real-time information, the first place to catch wind of developments that only later were reported in the press. Blog posts and TV news channels aggregated tweets to demonstrate prevailing cultural trends or debates.
I had a conversation about this very topic recently with someone I met on, wait for it, the internet. It seems like everyone agrees that the internet has become bleak – a place where bad news, vapid content, and doom scrolling are algorithmically ensured.
Piper Sandler has published a survey of American teenagers twice a year since 2001, focusing on their favorite brands, gadgets, snacks and restaurants. This fall’s survey polled more than 9,000 teens across the U.S. in September who average just under 16 years old.