I am definitely not the only person who thinks that. There are many people who share similar sentiments, maybe even including you, dear reader.
Nostalgia is a very common feeling, just look at how many Russians want the USSR back! Having been born in 2005, I pretty much grew up with the internet going mainstream, with YouTube being created the same year I was born.
Back when it was new, it was mainly used by hobbyists that wanted to show off pirated anime episodes cool and/or funny things they made for fun. (Forgive me if this just sounds like a rose-tinted petty bourgeois fantasy.)
Then you know what happened next. Like so many fun stuff under capitalism, like JoeMarx has mentioned recently with video games, the internet was commodified and made into a dumbed-down addictive tool for instant gratification, all for profit.
EDIT: I am referring specifically to web culture, not the actual technology of the internet.
Going through all this, how much do you think tablets/mobile OSs have to answer for? They seem to have made it desirable to have apps with essentially no settings. Is that a key factor?
Sorry for the late reply I missed this message until now. I definitely think the shift in software and to mobile plays a major part, especially when it comes to tech literacy of younger people now in my opinion. I feel like you used to have to learn a decent number of things about computers to accomplish basic tasks prior to smartphone/tablet era.
I think it is equally to do with the consolidation of corporate social media though, combined with the proper explosion of the internet which I guess probably came mid 2010s ? Just used to be less people online really