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The reduction in optimism may be related to the increased experience with the topics discussed? For example the internet boom of 2000 was caused by hyper-optimism, then people learned to be more moderate and Internet really took off. By comparison, the generation of 2003-2005 was less optimistic, but not in a bad way.

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I don't think it was learning to be more moderate, I think niche communities were pervaded with new users, which in turn caused a shift in culture and therefore later developed into new moderation policy. It's also been heavily corporatized as well, there are far less distal independent entities being a "big deal" and more centralization. But I haven't studied the patterns extensively and this is just collective anecdotal assessments of the shifts experienced from 2004 to present.

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