Maybe this already exists. But couldn’t one theoretically create a world within a world that is like the Net we all knew and loved before it was enshittified? I know the wayback machine exists, but I was thinking something that is still alive. IRC chats, forums, flash games (maybe not, with security concerns…), video sites that didn’t suck absolute ass like Corptube, stuff like that.
If it does exist, I am sure this would be the place to find it! Or maybe is a matter of staying off of all modern corp sites. I don’t know. Maybe Lemmy is this fantasy world…
ActivityPub and the fediverse were started specifically to deal with the kind of centralization that has lead to the shit state of the Internet today, so I’d say the fact that you’ve made it here means you’ve kinda found what you’re looking for already. Find and read/write WriteFreely/Ghost/Plume blogs (and shitposts) instead of Substack or Medium, use Lemmy for threaded conversations (and shitposts) instead of Reddit, and Mastodon for microblogs (and shitposts) instead of Twitter. Peertube is not a drop-in replacement for Youtube, but also 90% of the new content on Youtube is garbage today anyway, and there’s nothing stopping you from browsing older videos (with Freetube or similar to block a good portion of Youtube’s enshittified UI).
Plus if you do stick to these off-the-beaten-path alternatives, it’s still a fun time to be a content creator since you’re not focused on maximizing engagement or monetization – which is the true source of the godawful state of the Internet today.