

Flat forums weren’t just for downloading Android ROMs. Forums were meant for linear one-to-one discussion. All the eye bleed can be disabled anyways. I haven’t looked at avatars or signatures in decades.
Besides has there been a better solution? People were still using XDA forums last I checked. Which has been several years so I don’t know. XDA evolved around dedicated individuals who kept a top post updated with relevant info. So the problem was kind of solved after a while.
You’re not crazy. We’ve been witnessing a collective psychological phenomena as you’ve described. I’m sure psychology field has enough papers to write for more than a lifetime. People a century from now will be dissecting this period of history.