I didn’t take the OP to mean the raw amount of data was more catered to their interests, but rather that the personality of the internet was different. I said it sounded like you agreed because you listed the symptoms of that difference.
The OP is talking about the “Web 1.5” era, and it seems like you have the requisite patina to remember it too. It really was an entirely different world. Server side technologies just became common, allowing for dynamic websites and user submitted content, which was the birth of forums and aggregators of user content. They tended to cater to special interests and had their own culture, inside jokes, and standards (if any). It was common to be a member of a half dozen or more forums or interest sites, and it was more rare to already know a friend that was part of them. Instead you interacted and became friends with strangers, rather than upload your contacts list and send out friend requests.
There was Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Fark, Something Awful, Albino Blacksheep, eBaum’s World, Slashdot, Homestar Runner, YTMND, DeviantArt, Worth 1000, Maddox, Stile Project, Consumption Junction, Snopes, The Smoking Gun, Stick Death, The Perry Bible Fellowship, Penny Arcade, Threadless, Newgrounds, Zombo.com, Weebl's Stuff, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Badger Badger Badger, Fenslerfilm, Break.com, Stupid.com, Ogrish, Hot or Not, RateMyProfessors, Rate My Face, Stupidvideos, Questionable Content, How Stuff Works, Something Positive, IGN, Daily Kos, DeadJournal, LiveJournal, IRC, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Trillian… even of those that still “exist”, they don’t still exist.
I’m not saying those sites were necessarily better, but the personality and environment that created them no longer exists. Websites were created just because of an inside joke on a forum somewhere, which then became cultural memes that were talked about at work and school. It was the era of “Have you seen this website?!” and “Joined: 2002” bragging, and that personality is gone.