In a perfect online universe, BBSs and their brawny descendants would
live side by side, peaceful-like...
reddit / bbs

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kirkman14 · 2013-12-06 04:24

Really great profile of the D.C. area's dying BBS scene from 1997.

Lots of good lines -- and it's sadly prescient.

"In a perfect online universe, BBSs and their brawny descendants would
live side by side, peaceful-like: one offering polished graphics and
predigested content, the other serving up raw thoughts via rough-edged
technology. It isn't gonna happen, though. Goliath has sat his big
rump on David's chest, and the little guy's quickly running out of
air."

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[deleted] · 2013-12-06 15:03

But it kind of did happen, "from a certain point of view."  Reddit
IMHO is one giant text-y BBS, and lives side-by-side with the polished
graphics and predigested content of e-Commerce, news, games, etc.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[deleted] · 2013-12-06 18:30

I have actually described reddit to those who don't know what it is as
"Usenet for today," referencing the days when Usenet was actually used
primarily for conversation.

Reddit is the message base to end all message bases.  It doesn't get
pointed out often, but I love reddit's spare, texty look too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ominous_squirrel · 2013-12-07 07:11

It's not a perfect analogy, though. BBSes were hyperlocal and could
develop separate cultures. Subreddits develop cultures but they bleed
and are easy to lump together. There was the tiniest of tech hurdles
for BBSing since you had to know how to use a modem and probably got
your first dial-up list out of a dead tree computer newsletter. Not
everyone on a BBS could be a character on Freaks and Geeks, but most
of us fell into those categories.

Reddit likes to think it's nerdy, but it's actually really mainstream
in comparison. Last month Reddit had 91 million unique visitors. Just
for perspective, the record breaking last episode of Breaking Bad had
10.3 million viewers.

 Maybe it was my teenagerdom, but I don't feel the urgency of
connection when I go to Internet meet ups that I felt when I would go
to BBS meet ups. It was a secret world in its own time.