I'm from the early 90s era. I know exactly what you're saying. I entered the internet on muds, irc and usenet. There were just far fewer people online in those communities in those days, and in my country, it was mostly only us university students.

But, those days disappeared a long time ago. Probably at least 20-30 years ago.

I grew up on 80's and 90's BBSes. The transition from BBSes to Usenet and the early Internet was a magical period, a time I still look back upon fondly and will never forget.

Some of my best friends IRL today were people I first met "online" in those days... but I haven't met anyone new in a longggg time. Yeah, I'm also much older, but the environment is also very different. The community aspect is long gone.

even in the 90s there was the phrase "the Internet, where the men are men, the women are men, and the teen girls are FBI agents". It was always the case you never really knew who/what you were dealing with on the Internet.