Do you feel like we've lost creativity?

I often browse the Web Archive to find inspiration for themes, graphics, and just the overall nostalgic vibe of the early 2010s. Themes for example were so much more vibrant back then. Partly because the internet itself was different, but also because there seemed to be so many more people interested in creating things. Over the last 10 years or so, a lot of that slowly disappeared. Everything became flatter, cleaner, more minimal... but also, in my opinion, a lot more soulless and boring.

Maybe I’m just stuck in the past, but I really enjoy revisiting old websites and their designs and trying to create something inspired by them in a more modern way. What I make is never perfect, but I’m trying to bring back a little of that old-school vibe while having fun in the process. If something I create sparks someone else’s interest, gives them some inspiration, or someone simply gets some use out of the effort I put into it, then that already makes it worthwhile.

I definitely feel like the internet, and the people on it, have changed over the years. Somewhere along the way it feels like we lost a bit of that creativity, personality, and willingness to just make cool stuff for the sake of making it.

It’s not just forums but other things. Think of how McDonalds used to look back in the 70s with those bright colors! Then came the change to a more businesslike model and it became so blah! That was probably the start of that trend of the lifeless look. Maybe it’s time to revert back to the fun times?

Everything is starting to look like Soviet Russia…

Maybe it’s a sign of what is coming…

On Sep 5, 2026, Cedric said:

Maybe I’m just stuck in the past, but I really enjoy revisiting old websites and their designs and trying to create something inspired by them in a more modern way. What I make is never perfect, but I’m trying to bring back a little of that old-school vibe while having fun in the process. If something I create sparks someone else’s interest, gives them some inspiration, or someone simply gets some use out of the effort I put into it, then that already makes it worthwhile.

I definitely feel like the internet, and the people on it, have changed over the years. Somewhere along the way it feels like we lost a bit of that creativity, personality, and willingness to just make cool stuff for the sake of making it.

I do too, the internet was so much more interesting and creative when more people had unique websites or forums, rather than a facebook page or some other social media. So much of the internet we old timers knew was lost because of social media, for whatever good it offers, so much has been lost, including alot of forums over the years. I hope forums in general are making a comeback.