As you read this it helps to keep in mind that this is basically a question about the classic market adoption curve.



First some context:
Back around 1989 a local artist opened up the coolest bagel shop in the world in my hometown. I was one of the first to discover the tiny hole-in-the-wall place and it instantly became my hangout.



It was a great place to hang out for a couple of years then the word started spreading and soon everyone was trying to get in. The owner eventually doubled the floor space by leasing the space next door which drew even more people in the hopes of getting a seat.

When the place started becoming packed with tourists and soccer moms with strollers, I stopped going.

Back in June of 2000, I discovered the best online community ever to exist one week after it was launched. I refer to the notorious fuckedcompany.com where dotcommers hung out and talked candidly about business and their companies. It was the most stimulating place online until about 2002 when MTV did a story on it causing thousands of teeny-boppers to show up and ruin it for everyone.

My Linkedin number is in the 18,000s. It used to be a valuable networking community for businesspeople. Today it has about 125 million members and is little more than a spam machine for Third World knock-off artists.

Then there's Facebook. I have never had an account there but respected it as "the" place for young people to socialize. Out of respect I stayed off it due to my age. When Facebook opened up the floodgates to old farts like myself, I knew that the cool factor had been destroyed.

So here's the question:

Does this same phenomenon of the masses ruining things apply to the entire Internet? We appear to have entered into a new phase where making grandpa and grandma Kettle feel safe is far more important that providing a space for people to debate ideas openly and freely.

I have been warning people for 12 years at least that the Internet was too good to last and that Big Business and Big Government would move to seize control of it. We are now witnessing them making these moves. CISPA is just the latest. The whole Facebook thing about posting under your real name is another symptom of this problem.

As I see it, the Net is under attack everywhere. The excuse used is often about protecting late adopters and laggards who must be made to feel safe at all costs.

The end result is that the entire Net is turning into an AOL chatroom with real names.



I'd rather have an stimulating thought provoking conversation with CaptainCrunchypants and CrackWhoreCEO than with the real Bobby-Jo Dupree of Amarillo County, Arkansas if all she can do is spout platitudes.

I am probably a dying breed. :o(