The Internet has never been what it used to be on many perspectives, not just the point you named. For some, the internet is just a way to get info on people and use it to their advantage. I can name a number of sites that do this. I can't ever recall sites being like that when the web first came out. =/

This entry isn't funny >

Man, why can't it be like it was before the 70's? That internet was so rad.

The Internet has always been about complaining. In fact, the Internet was first created so scientists from different universities could easily complain to each other about how their research was going. True story. (Or maybe not)

Anyway, yes, stuff online is changing. Nothings really gonna stop it tho.

The only thing that's changing is the volume and frequency of well established Internet attitudes. It's always been like this, it's just getting worse.

I think the main problem lies in the contrast between serious discussions and sarcastic ones. When someone makes a site with the intention of promoting serious discussion, and that someone attracts both serious internet users and people who use the internet just for fun, the resulting tensions and misunderstandings can cause a lot of problems.