Internet on isoul.uk

The Internet Used to Feel Different

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 18:40:27 +0000

Previously on isoul.uk: Discovering Anime on the Wild Internet of 2007 — the internet stopped being a reference tool and became the place we went to find what to watch next.

I don’t think the old internet was necessarily better.

It was slower, less reliable, full of broken links and often much harder to use.

But it did feel different.

The easiest way I can describe it is that I used to feel as though I was moving through the internet. Today it often feels as though the internet moves through a handful of feeds towards me.

Discovering Anime on the Wild Internet of 2007

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:48:02 +0000

Previously on isoul.uk: How Toonami Changed What I Watched — television opened the door before the internet showed me how much anime existed beyond the British schedules.

That next phase began with Naruto.

Toonami had taught me to recognise anime as something distinct, but Naruto was the point when somebody effectively said to me, “This is anime. Watch this.”

That somebody was my brother. We started watching it online, beyond whatever British television happened to schedule, and I fell in properly.