Worth Reading – Is 2026 The Year We All Decide to Quit the Internet?

The problem, of course, is that there is always something to see online:

The world generates an estimated 400 million terabytes of content every single day.

https://heystacia.substack.com/p/is-2026-the-year-we-all-decide-to

Stacia focuses the rest of this post on ways to disconnect, and I think that is important. I also want to acknowledge where the internet is going from here.

AI will eventually create an infinite amount of content every day. Every time we log in, there is already more content than we can engage with, and AI will only increase the noise level. If anything, AI will also probably help all of us find the most extreme content out there, but that’s a post for another time.

This post is about what I think we should consider for 2026 and beyond regarding our online lives. The days of scrolling algorithmic networks should probably be done. AI is not going to provide us with healthy content.

What I am thinking about is not leaving the internet, but going back to it. I’m not looking for endless scrolls of hot takes or AI-generated posts. I’m looking for real people creating real things, writing real words, sharing real photos and experiences.

The internet has always held the promise of connecting with like-minded people and ideas, yet somehow we’ve used it instead as the world’s largest selection of TV channels. We reach for our phone when we’re bored for passive entertainment, not human connection. But there is a human connection that happens online, too. I want to focus more on that, and a lot less on content that exists to steal attention toward the latest viral topics and sell that attention to advertisers.

I’ve always written under the assumption that people were reading what I put out here and, hopefully, learning something. In the age of AI-slop, I want more of that, and only that. I’m seeking it out and connecting with it. I am not connecting with people who are creating crap content in a chase for attention. Bring your authentic self, or I’m ready to assume your account is AI slop.

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