This is entirely fair and I perhaps overstated my position in my frustration. The internet is special in how connected it has been able to make a lot of the world (or at least the wester, english-speaking world) and does allow people to find each other and information that they would never have been able to otherwise.

This is just a rant born from frustration over overly alarmist thinkpieces and articles praising "the internet" for things that have been around long before it through other media.