The internet used to make me wander. Now it makes me scroll.

Ten years ago I could fall down a rabbit hole for an hour and come out with three new obsessions and no idea how I got there. Now my feeds are so good at predicting me that I mostly fall into rabbit holes I already live in. I keep wondering: did the internet get better at serendipity, or did it get so good at recommending things that it quietly replaced it? The strangest part is that wandering used to be the default. Now it feels like a skill you have to practice on purpose. Lately I've been clicking the thing I'd never click, reading corners of the internet I never visit. It's awkward at first, like exercising a muscle you forgot you had. But the weird, wonderful web is still out there if you go looking without a map.