My Life on the Internet
2025.10.4
I grew up during the 2010s , so my childhood and teenage years were deeply shaped by that era — basically embodying the late-2000s internet vibe. In the middle to late years of elementary school, I was exposed to aesthetic we’d now call Frutiger Aero, spending countless hours with Nintendo games and getting obsessed with Japan’s top YouTuber HIKAKIN together with my younger brother.I was kind of shocked by the fact this video was already 11 years ago… I feel so old(´；ω；`)ｳｩｩ
I also had my first experience connecting with strangers online through "Ameba Pigg(アメーバピグ)". When I was in elementary school, I didn’t have many real friends at school, so making friends online meant so much to me. I also started blogging on Ameba Blog (linked with Ameba Pigg) — honestly, I kind of wish I had kept those posts… though they’re basically my "黒歴史" (embarrassing dark past) lol. If I could see my 黒歴史 again, it would be funny, right? haha.I also read "嵐"(Nationally famous idol in Japan) fanfics on a site called "Uranai Tsukuru"(占いツクール）, which was kind of like Japan’s version of Wattpad.I was so "夢女子" haha.
someone's screen shots of Ameba pigg (aww…This UI is so nostalgic…)
Back then, I also got into those stupid video that were weirdly popular among kids. For example“gory Doraemon” video on Youtube, and chaotic MAD videos on Nico Nico Douga(ニコニコ動画）. Internet was still wild, chaotic, and not too commercialistic at that time. For me, the internet was really an escape, since I wasn’t doing well in the real world. Nowadays it’s totally normal to be immersed in the digital world, but at that time I felt a little guilty about it.
When I became a junior high school student, my interests diversified and started to look outward. I got my first smartphone and began listening to UK rock and American pops on YouTube. I was truly shocked and moved by cultures so different from Japan, with such strong powers of self-expression.
I also got into an app called "We Heart It", where I’d look at images that represented the so-called “2014 Tumblr Aesthetic” and grow my longing for overseas life. But at the same time, the more I longed for the West, the more I began to develop what we Japanese call a “白人コンプレックス”—feeling like Western culture and white people were somehow superior, and putting myself down as a Japanese person.
It was a mix of things: the allure of cultures so different from Japan, the way Japanese media at the time glorified Western culture and white people, and the fact that English-speaking pop culture back then was much more white-centered than it is now. Today, thanks to the rise of social media, artists of different races, countries, and genders—who had always been there but were often overlooked—are now getting more recognition, and music has become so much more diverse. It’s both exciting and uplifting to see (*^_^*)
I really love this remix.It's like the good side of the Internet,so diverse.
Looking back, I came to realize that thinking me as Japanese are inferior to other races was totally unhealthy, but at the time it really affected me. Luckily, through different experiences,that toxic way of thinking completely disappeared now. I don't go into details about this , because it's a long story lol.
During the COVID era, I was a university student. At that time, I fell into Lo-fi and Japanese citypop communities. I loved listening to the music while reading Youtube comments from people all over the world. Even though I wasn’t directly interacting with anyone, it gave me a comforting sense that I wasn’t alone.
After that, though, I found myself falling into TikTok’s “zombie scroll” and getting swayed by the toxic, sweeping opinions on Twitter. The online world was no longer a place of escape — instead, I found myself wanting to escape to the real world.
Of course, it’s still fun to see silly memes and relatable videos on TikTok, but I really hate that passive, finger-only scrolling time. In the middle of all this, discovering Neocities was a new experience. It reminded me of the kind of interactions we used to have on the old internet, and I’ve become completely hooked. Every site has its own personality, with no standardized commercial elements or sterile atmosphere. I absolutely love it (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ♥
