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.

IRC is still around, that old internet is still there.

You just have to get off the commercial crap and you’ll find it.