Another way you can mark the descent of Internet culture into low-effort trash is the rapid decline in the artistic quality of web comics. We went from this to badly drawn sneering blobs, stick figures, and memes.

The early webcomic "Delta Thrives" from the same artist is still one of my touchstones for a utopian vision of the future.

http://e-sheep.sansara.net.ua/www.e-sheep.com/delta/heartoft...

yes! this is such a classic webcomic