chans

Part of it is back when chans started, basically nobody over 27 or so would be posting. It was an underground thing for the most part, and only young people knew about it through word of mouth.

Now many of us have stayed on chans for years and gotten older, and suddenly making fun of raping kids isn't funny because some of us have kids (I remember one time telling a guy who was bragging about his great life -- 60K job, nice car, daughter he loved -- that I hoped his daughter died. He replied back something like, "Take it back. I'm sorry for being an asshole. Just please take it back." And I said, "I take it back." and felt fucking awful, because, you know, I didn't actually want his kid to die.)... joking about jolly african-americans isn't hilarious because you realize how shitty some people have it in this world, off-the-cuff remarks about how stupid women are suddenly seem even less inspired than they were before ... though they could be hilarious if done properly, I think. Just.. less chan shit is funny, but we're still here.

Meanwhile, chans are also now more well-known. Suddenly 12 year olds are posting. Probably kids as young as 8, honestly. As well as bros and general fucking idiots who are not part of the hardcore, basement-dwelling culture that lives on the computer. Suddenly chans are accessible to everyone. This is the biggest reason things have changed so much recently. The camaraderie isn't there because we're just not as similar to one another as we once were. Bigger age-gap, bigger diversity in type of person posting. And some people really do get heated and forget we're all just here to have a good time in the end.

Also, the world changes. Norms change. The world is changing faster than ever before. There's no golden age, though. Just now. The past does not exist, has never existed except in memory.