I think we are only begging to get to the time where the the night is darkest before the dawn, so to speak, at least intellectually and socially.
It’s an awkward time, we’re sort of stuck in this middle ground between needing to be politically correct yet still finding the need to rebel and do/say whatever we want. We’ve sort of stumbled into a time where we see how many drastic and mind blowing possibilities we have technologically, but there’s so many that we’re not quite sure how to really use or implement them in a correct fashion. to use the OP’s example, the internet, over the last 10 years or so we’ve discovered just how much the internet can improve our quality of life, and we see how bright the future could be, we’re just not sure how to correctly and safely use this technology.
It’s all very confusing now, so much information buzzing around, so much knowledge in the air. Conflicting ideas and battling philosophies surround us on a daily basis. It’s only going to become more hectic from here, and I think that the next 20 years or so could determine the fate of humanity. We’ll either come out of the next two decades in a brilliant position as a people, or we’ll be struggling to hold on to any sense of civilization we once had.