Not exactly. Interpreted charitably, in the context, it could be replaced by "the unwashed masses".
The author seems to have harboured the idea that internet was good only back when it was for a select few. I don't know how he reconciled that with his apparent distaste for gated communities.
Ethernal September is actually a thing, so he isn't that wrong. I get the aversion towards elitism... But those of us who used the Internet in the 90s still know what happened when the "masses" started to flood it.
The original Eternal September was about AOL users getting access to Usenet in 1993. And yet, “people on AOL in 1993” would easily be in, what, the top 5% in quality of Internet users today? Maybe higher?
Hell, your “masses” flooding the Internet in the later 90s were still much better than the population now.
And here’s this guy writing about how bad things had gotten in 2004. Buckle up, buddy: you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Imagine what brave new world the future holds. Never assume things are so bad that they can’t get worse.
Gated communities arbitrarily bar your entry. That is categorically different from having some minimum standard which anyone is welcome to make an attempt at.
But the decline is not because "stupid people" started using it. The reason is that more people started using it, which made it of tremendous commercial interest and brought all of the dysfunctions of an unregulated free market.
The author seems to have harboured the idea that internet was good only back when it was for a select few. I don't know how he reconciled that with his apparent distaste for gated communities.