SYOTI: Why Does the Internet Feel Different Now?

In this week’s episode of See You on the Internet, Kate and Nicole take a tour through fantasy romance books, millennial internet nostalgia, and the cursed future of social media. We kick things off with our current reads (the Red Rising universe, cowboy romances, and Quicksilver), why some books desperately need more kissing, and where we land on the eternal battle of audiobooks vs. physical books—especially when it comes to fantasy, smut, and memoirs.

From there, we detour into our past lives as early-days Twitter addicts, using tweets as group chats, subtweeting with full government names (we clearly have no shame), and why we’re craving a new era of social media that feels more like a friend group chat and less like an ad-filled algorithm slot machine. We also get into AI-generated content, the Vine reboot, what a counterculture “anti-AI” creator movement might look like, and why group chats feel like the last good place on the internet.

Of course, it wouldn’t be us without some millennial nostalgia: code names for high school crushes, unhinged nicknames, Candy Crush addiction, Jonas Brothers drama, and a little holiday chat about Friendsgiving.

In this episode we talk about:

1. Our current reads: Red Rising, Quicksilver, cowboy romance, fantasy & fae books
2. Why some “boy books” need more kissing (and when we actually like books with none)
3. Audiobooks vs. physical books for fantasy, romance, and memoirs
4. The cursed “bad book club” era: Punk 57, Onyx Storm, and impossible book sex scenes
5. The art of nicknames, code names, and high school crush lore
6. Growing up on early Twitter, subtweet culture, and using tweets as group chats
7. Why today’s social apps feel broken and what a better, friend-centric social platform could be
8. AI content, Vine’s comeback, and the next wave of anti-AI creators
9. Jonas Brothers tour chaos, surprise guests, and 2000s emo nostalgia

Perfect for anyone who loves fantasy romance, millennial internet culture, book talk, and long rants about how the internet used to be.