The internet was/is inter-machine communication for the military (and/or business), then a way to beat our ignorance, then a user-generated content machine. It was most certainly not invented by someone who thought reality is too boring.

I find this wider reactionary "touch grass" movement boring and interesting simultaneously. It is boring, because nobody interested in internet-as-community health asked for many of the abuses that have happened to it and obviously you'd want to flee those. It is interesting because... I never would have expected that 20 years ago.