The Web has lost its soul

Terrified at the sight of Cybermare being hypnotised by Youtube shorts, Manon shows her how the modern internet could learn a thing or two from the old web.

### Watch

 YouTube
 Newgrounds

### Writer

Shadok
Kankitty

### Director

Shadok

**The Web has lost its soul** is the eighth episode for *LOVEWEB*.

## Characters

* Manon
* Cybermare

## Transcript

*(Intro plays as normal, with Manon surfing past future events of the current episode before landing in their room)*
*(Manon is seen writing HTML code for the website)*
**Manon:** Hmmm. I think this should work...
*(Manon types some more and then we see the website itself)*
**Manon:** Noice! Looking kewl! I gotta show this to Cybermare!
*(Manon turns towards Cybermare, she's looking at videos on her phone)*
**Manon:** Cybermare! Can you check my newest page for the LOVEWEBSITE please?
*(Cybermare doesn't respond, she keeps watching her phone)*
**Manon:** Cybermare pleaaase... I need a second opinion. Cybermaaare...
*(Manon slowly approaches Cybermare)*
**Manon:** INB4 you'll really like it! It has page about you!
*(No response from Cybermare)*
**Manon:** Cybermare? Can I has second opinion please? I wanna know what you- WOAH!
*(Manon jumps in surprised seeing Cybermare hypnotized by YouTube Shorts)*
**Manon:** No... No... Nononono..... *(Manon shakes and hides in their paws before crying out loud)* WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
**Cybermare:** Uh... What?
*(Cybermare breaks out of trance and checks on Manon who's now sobbing on the floor)*
**Cybermare:** Hey, what's up? Why are you crying?
**Manon:** It just.... This....
*(Manon points at Cybermare's phone)*
**Cybermare:** YouTube shorts? I mean.... Yeah, I know that sort of stuff is cringe but... they're weirdly grabbing I guess...
*(Manon jumps in anger)*
**Manon:** That's the problem!!! You don't even like that stuff and yet it's hypnotizing you into always watching more and more! It hurts to see my friend turning into a zombie...
**Cybermare:** Yeah, I get what you mean. There's probably a Firefox extension that blocks YouTube shorts, anyway. I should get that...
**Manon:** It's not just YouTube shorts that's the problem! It's all social media! Other sites like Twitter and TikTok are designed to make you scroll forever. They are made to turn peeps into addicts! I don't like it! The internet is... the internet is bad now!
**Cybermare:** Wait what? Aren't you always the first person to shill how the internet is perfect and has no flaws and shit?
**Manon:** The internet WAS perfect! But very slowly over time... it changed.
**Cybermare:** Oh, so it's like a ship of theseus situation?
**Manon:** I never heard that ship name before. Is it like.. A popular OTP from a show or something?
**Cybermare:** Uh... forget I mentioned that. So you're saying the internet used to be different?
**Manon:** I'll explain but let me get in a more comfortable and iconic position first! *(Manon jumps on their pillow next to their computer)* Back in the late 90s and the early 2000s... the internet was this cool and new thing... An infinite space of possibilities.... But as time went on... Certain websites took more and more traffic... So much traffic that they became an entire planet on their own! They became so massive that they're impossible to ignore. They gained complete dominance on the internet! This huge group of planets is what's called the "core web".
**Cybermare:** Oh... So the monopolistic normie conglomerate got it.

**Manon:** As much as the core web would like to have all the attention on itself... the infinite space around the core web still exists! It's called the peripheral web! If you've grown tired of the core web like me... This right here, is where to look for new websites and experiences! There's a whole movement going on right now all about bringing how fun the old internet used to be! This movement and everything around it goes by many names and researching was confusing, so let's clarify some stuff. Old web is referring to the old internet in between the 90s and 2000s, back when the internet was more wild, diverse and independent..
**Cybermare:** I don't know if you can call that environment “diverse.” It was just nerdy white dudes rich enough to afford the first wave of home computers. Especially since they weren't required for anything important.
**Manon:** Yeah... prices and the lack of spread to everyone else made it so it was a much more niche community.. But we don't have that problem anymore! The internet is now used by all kinds of peeps all over the globe! It's the perfect time to teach everyone how cool the old web was! Web revival is the name of the movement to make the internet a healthier place through making your own website, spreading awareness of the dangers of the social media platforms and reducing your engagement in the core web! The personal web, also known as the independent web, is part of the peripheral web that the web revival wants to bring back into attention! Because technically, the peripheral web is everything that's not the core web, AKA billions of websites. Anyway! The personal web is where all the cool and epic websites are!! Here's an example!
**Cybermare:** Lmao.
**Manon:** What...?
**Cybermare:** Are you sure this is a website from today and not something you dug up from decades ago? You're not gonna convince anyone to join your nostalgia-bait movement with this. You just gotta accept there's no way out of the hell hole that is the modern internet.
**Manon:** Grr...FYI its not gonna be thanks to grumpy peeps like you if things ever changes... Do you not see the soul in this website? Or in this one? Or this one? All these? Do you not realise the absolute freedom you have when YOU make your own website? This isn't about nostalgia. It's about bringing back the freedom and originality of the old web with the accessibility of the new web! Do you prefer all those original and experimental websites or having like 5 social medias that all look the same… Every website part of the core web is copying each other now! DeviantArt... Redesigned with all it's unique flavor gone! And Tumblr slowly changed to look more and more like Twitter! It even has a "For you" page? Why does everything gotta have an algorithm fueled spoon feeder... Ugh!! You have TikTok figuring out how to hypnotize its users and now every big social media wants a piece of that cake!
**Cybermare:** Holy fuck, I've never seen you like this before. What a breath of fresh air.
**Manon:** At least websites made thanks to the web revival movement are made by people with the heart and love of a human being! Not even social media users are human anymore!! All I see on Twitter now is brands trying to pretend they're your friend!!

**Cybermare:** Daily reminder that literally everything brand accounts do on social media is meant to turn you into their customer.

**Manon:** The web now is run by brands and algorithms! Its lost it's soul... It's humanity!! I am not nostalgic! I am OUTRAGED!!!!!!! *(Manon pants)*
**Cybermare:** Damn, Manon being based. Never thought it'd see it happen. Isn't making a website like.. Really hard though? I feel like it's not gonna appeal to everyone, especially since it costs money to host one. Actually, now would be the perfect opportunity to get sponsored by that website maker. You know... Squarespa-
**Manon:** Nonono. Website makers like those are super limited and you won't make anything unique... Learning HTML is actually easy and accessible nowadays! And Neocites is the perfect place to host your website! The lovewebsite itself is all made with HTML and CSS and is also hosted on Neocities! No website maker involved! Neocities also has a lot of awesome content on it! I invite everyone to browse the websites hosted on it! You don't even have to learn to code and make a website to participate in the web revival movement! You can either be an epic HTML magician creating fantastical websites or a cool cowgirlboy, exploring the wild west that is the personal web.
**Cybermare:** Yeah, I think being a cowgirl is more my vibe then being a fucking nerd.
**Manon:** Browsing the personal web is pretty different than the core web tho! For example, you can see that a website is part of a webring, which is a collective of websites all linked together like a ring! Personal websites also tend to have a "links" page where the owner is gonna link a bunch of websites that they like! There are some search engines to browse all those websites, but the fun of the personal web is getting lost in the.. well.. the web!! It's gonna be overwhelming at first to be caught in the web but its so exciting to discover cool websites like that! A lot better than having an algorithm spoon feed you content...
**Cybermare:** Ok, I see what you mean and it sounds kino and all but... You're not gonna get the core web BTFO’d just by having a couple hundred people create their own website.
**Manon:** Come on.. you're just being grumpy again!!
**Cybermare:** No I'm being serious, The internet isn't gonna fix itself with this movement. It might provide some escapism for some people but it isn't some magical other dimension. It exists within the confines of the human world, so it's governed by that world's systems. You know, capitalism. Rich people try to monopolize every industry. Now they’re doing it to everyone’s internet activity trying to rule over it, so they can make as much money from it as they can. The internet’s just a recent, prominent victim. If you want the internet to decentralize, be accessible to everyone, and not be defined by monopolies and big corpos, that's only gonna be possible in a world without capitalism, or at least a world where it's a lot weaker.
*(Manon tries to listen but ends up sleeping halfway through Cybermare's conversation)*
**Cybermare:** The problem isn't just the internet or social media. The internet and how bad it is now is only symptomatic of a society shaped by power, money, and exploitation. The internet is an integral part of that society now. It can only change for the better if the broader political landscape changes to be more egalitarian. Maybe if we started.... Yo, Manon?
*(Manon wakes up)*
**Manon:** O!! Ugh... Politics hard.... You lost me at "capitalism". You gotta remember to keep *LOVEWEB* simple to understand. This is a show for all ages after all!
**Cybermare:** Ugh... Yeah right, can’t forget about the 14 year olds who make up most of our audience.
**Manon:** I really hope viewers are gonna be interested in the web revival movement and not feel intimidated by it... Wait I forgot!! I wanted to show you something on my own website I'm making!
*(Manon jumps on their folder bed)*
**Manon:** Look! I made pages all about us!
**Cybermare:** Not bad.. I expected something.. flashier and more obnoxious. Uhh, for my description, I think I'll take care of it myself, ok?
**Manon:** Alright! The website is also gonna have a dedicated page for web revival and personal websites! I'll have links on there to start your journey into the peripheral web! I hope you enjoyed this episode of *LOVEWEB* and don't forget to support us on Patreon or buy some merch! Anyway, thank you for watching and see you on the personal web, lol!
*(Credits roll)*

## Music

* Michael Guy Bowman - We're riding on the internet (LOVEWEB Remix)
* NOMOIDA - LO-FI CYBERMARE BEATS TO STUDY/RELAX TO
* 死のチャンネル - death channel 2
* NOMOIDA - SPACEWEB GLIDE
* NOMOIDA - THREAD NECROMANCY
* NOMOIDA - KEYGEN WHERE THE MUSIC IS WAY TOO LOUD WHEN YOU OPEN IT
* NOMOIDA - END OF THE INTERNET
* NOMOIDA - ZZZ...

## Patreon Supporters

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### Channel Members

* Jake
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## Fanart Credits

* chip wiseman
* anonymous
* sartsleepingDeaf
* PeacefulPanda
* honeystar
* deprekat
* CherryGreenTea
* vibuma
* calciumchan
* riversideeedotcom
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## Notes

1. ↑ Has an animated segment.
2. ↑ Has an animated segment.
3. ↑ Has an animated segment.
4. ↑ Has 4 arts. Credited under "peacefulpanda" in the second and third one.

## Trivia

* This is the first episode to feature real voice actors from Manon and Cybermare instead of AI voices due to the current reputation of it.
	+ This is also the first episode not to have the title of the topic in the thumbnail.
* Turning on subtitles reveals a Pastebin link at the end of the episode, which regards the past ARGs Cybermare made.

> hey, thanks for playing my arg
> it's hard not to cringe at it because who the fuck makes rpgmaker games to vent about their feelings
> but sounds like some of you guys were really invested so, it feels worth it in the end
> i think i've shared everything i wanted to share with the arg so dont expect anything more out of me any time soon
> if you don't know what i'm talking about then, you know what they say
> lurk more
>
> The Pastebin