No one will read it but I feel like talking about it so fuck it. As far as the pill in pic goes I don't believe there was a time before neuroticism on imageboards. Internet in general used to be a haven for nerds, autists, neurotics, creeps, pariahs etc. - those are the types that used PCs for recreation back then. Consider Rule 1&2 of the Internet (those are pretty old) - reference aside, keeping low profile is neurotic in nature. You can say most of those 'rules' are fun oriented but that isn't a contradiction. It's only when normalfags bred out of control that the neurotic grumpiness started to get represented so strongly.

I've watched some interviews with people on VR-chat saying how they're usually the closed up, silent type but they don't experience social anxiety in VR, like their brain doesn't register it being real and the blockades don't trigger. I think it was similar for social misfits and imageboards. Not only did they have the mental leisure of unreality but finally they joined a tribe of their own, a people who shared their culture and life baggage.
Maybe I didn't connect the dots perfectly but that's kind of the reason why I preached against realitycuckery and taking things seriously in general so strongly it might've seemed whiny.