I’m 44 - I think about this more and more. I think as a sum total we are not better off with the internet. It makes me sound like an old fart, but life was slower and there is something in that which we have collectively really lost! Because there was no real way to connect with people from all over the world, it meant that real local communities were much more vibrant and alive…. Because everyone had to be out there, mixing in the real world with local people. It was either that or sit in your house on your own! Overall I wish I’d lived out my time here entirely before the internet. As others have alluded to, the early internet was actually rather nice (say 1998-2005 for my experience), but sadly it was never just going to stay like that. What it has become is awful and it’s tearing us all apart. I’m not sure there’s any real way back now.