I'm forming a SysOp Alliance, and I've started a Patreon reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-02-25 11:32 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-02-25 12:50 Exactly what is the goal of your "Alliance?" What are we supposed to "know"? I guess, in your opinion, how do you think a "new/old" network of BBS's would be an improvement of the otherwise "ruined" internet? While I agree that there is a lot of very toxic, very socially damaging corners of the largest social corners of the internet (and even smaller emerging ones), I would say that what has made them particularly dangerous to society is the global reach enabled by the internet itself. There was certainly no shortage of neo-Nazism, hate speech, cyber-bullying, criminal activity, or any other socially damaging activity happening on BBS's, Usenet, or early internet chat boards. The only reason those things were kept reasonably in check is that BBS's were very localized and early internet technologies were not ubiquitously adopted yet. If you look at just what Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit do and how they work, I think you'd agree that, on the whole, those modern sites are pretty much exactly what BBS SysOps in the 90's wanted to try to achieve. When thinking of echomail in particular (my favourite part of BBS's back in the day), Reddit has basically taken the best part of echomail and Usenet (the conversational aspects), and improved the parts that were very limiting about it (the ability for meaningful moderation, the speed at which messages reach their target, and the ability to link into other informational aspects of the world). Don't get me wrong - I'm as die hard as the next ex-SysOp who enjoyed the hayday of the BBS scene back in the mid-90's (I ran one of the largest echomail hubs in my metro area and was very active in getting many people involved in that part of the scene who otherwise wouldn't have ever even purchased a modem) but I'm not sure what you think an alliance of BBS's could offer the internet nowadays that modern technologies haven't already gotten covered. I do miss the more "communal" feeling of BBS's, but I also recognize that the only reason that that sense of community existed in the first place was because of the technological limitations of BBS's at the time. Most people were either physically located close to the BBS, or were dedicated users who became well-known because they were very active all over the BBS scene. With modern technologies and the ubiquitous nature of the modern internet, there is no way to put that toothpaste back in the tube. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- andreMKE · 2021-02-25 13:05 So you’re not part of the Reddit community (except for a few money begging posts) and haven’t been part of the BBS community in decades, still don’t have a BBS, but you want us to give you money. There’s a handful of other delusional people on some of the BBS Facebook groups who plan to bring people back from the internet to their sweet BBS. Go find them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-02-25 13:08 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-02-25 13:09 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- wndrbr3d · 2021-02-25 13:09 I second this. We have a community here on Reddit and spread across several FB groups. I'm struggling to find what you'd offer on your Patreon that isn't already free on the internet, or available to anyone who'd ask here on the subreddit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-02-25 13:14 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- phareous · 2021-02-27 04:47 I debated back and forth on replying but my main thought was there aren't enough users to support anything and the people involved in bbses aren't going to pay someone $15 a month