In the age of "the algorithm" where Youtube, Instagram, Twitter and even Google itself have all become just outright nauseating to use, I'm grateful that NewGrounds has continued to be the amazing website it always was.

It's rare that such a positive force gets to exist in the modern world and even more rare for it to live as long as it has.

The culture, the people, the principles and values holding everything together, this is really what the world needs right now, "identity", especially with how endangered its becoming in all aspects of our daily lives.

The phone, the TV and the computer all feel like the same device now, just in different shapes.

McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, all fast-food chains have become situated inside identical-looking grey buildings.

Playstation, Xbox and Steam don't feel like rivaling brothers anymore they've basically merged into one obese brother.

And as I mentioned before, social media and the internet in general kinda sucks ass at the moment.

I don't think homogenization in and of itself is *bad*, it's just that it comes with a tradeoff, and I think its starting to take its toll on all of us. It's important for our collective mental health that we are exposed to individuality, and I can't think of anything else that has fought as hard for individuality for THIS LONG other than NewGrounds.

Thank you Tom Fulp and the NewGrounds community for keeping it real.

Happy 30th' y'all.