Lemmy's kinda helped me see a different perspective. It's just old man talk. Like, the internet is still there. Everything that once was, still is. Just a lot more shit the rest of everyone is usually using. Stop trying to keep up with everyone using all these popular sites for everyday life like they did with TV. Find obscure websites and dedicated forums for your topic. Don't rely on Google^tm^ to find the internet for you. Before, you actually had to find a site (magazines, social/network circles) then hope that site had a search function if you're looking for something particular (this is the old internet everyone craves lol, it wasn't perfect by any means/rose tinted glasses).

You can use the internet just like you did back in the day and have the same experience. It's just that the majority of the world uses the connection for a "TV"-like feed with main popular sites and apps. There's still more people using and improving the "old internet" compared to the 90's, so it's only a net positive in my book.