Old School BBS's

NeonKaos

Custodian
Quote from Imaginary Illusion:

I was thinking back to dealing with people on BBS's when we still had 2400 modems.

Dude have you seen the BBS Documentary?

Google: BBS Documentary

I was on a DDial in the late 80's. A couple people I know from there are in the documentary. I wish I had known about it when they were interviewing for it and I would have been in it too.

[I must beg to differ though] - we had some pretty "heated debates" there and on Nite Lites, etc. but the Sysops were all-powerful in those days! We didn't need no stinkin' moderators!
 
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Had no idea about the documentary. I'll have to see if I can track it down.

[I must beg to differ though] - we had some pretty "heated debates" there and on Nite Lites, etc. but the Sysops were all-powerful in those days! We didn't need no stinkin' moderators!
Don't get me wrong. We discussed all the hot topics from Sex, Politics, Religion, name it. There were arguments that would peel the electronic paint off the virtual walls of the chatroom.

But they always shared something in common...people didn't take differences of opinion personally.
They could vehemently disagree with someone on one thread with every fibre of their soul, and on another thread they could be walking lockstep together in a debate with someone else. They'd all still be sitting at a table together having a beer or pop or something once a week, often only hours after their latest post in a week-long ongoing debate. I do miss that part.

If there was any drama, it was usually a result of the dating that went on between the members. Grand spectator sport it was sometimes in the middle of a restaurant. But what would you expect from a bunch of kids?
 
I used to do some BBS stuff way back when and I definitely think that the online dynamic/culture/whatever has changed a lot when it comes to debating and people taking things personally. Because even in the early days of the internet it wasn't the case either.

Not sure why it changed or when, exactly, but it most definitely did change. And I don't think that this has anything to do with age, per se, but a change in culture as the technology evolved.
 
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Not sure why it changed or when, exactly, but it most definitely did change. And I don't think that this has anything to do with age, per se, but a change in culture as the technology evolved.

Yea Ciel, I think you hit it. The world HAS changed (culture).
It's seems all the "people" evaporated and got replaced with either victims or crusaders.
The art of just good (if sometimes heated) philosophical discussion has faded away. There was a spurt to try to revive it awhile back though.

http://www.philosopher.org/en/Socrates_Cafe.html

GS
 
Don't get me wrong. We discussed all the hot topics from Sex, Politics, Religion, name it. There were arguments that would peel the electronic paint off the virtual walls of the chatroom.

But they always shared something in common...people didn't take differences of opinion personally.
They could vehemently disagree with someone on one thread with every fibre of their soul, and on another thread they could be walking lockstep together in a debate with someone else. They'd all still be sitting at a table together having a beer or pop or something once a week, often only hours after their latest post in a week-long ongoing debate. I do miss that part.

I find this compelling. It is beyond me why it is such a frequent occurrence for some to cry out "you're attacking me" and/or "you're judging me" when no personal references were made. Only ideas were being exchanged.

In addition to this, I marvel at how easily some fall into condemning others on a personal level for having discussion. When the discussion gets too "heated" (whatever that means) for some, suddenly they start to analyze discussion styles and methods and why poster Z's discussion style is bad and only seeking to win an argument.
"Debate" may even be described as some great evil. Or if they are less "sophisticated" than that, they simply insult poster Z directly. Name calling is fairly simple. Jokes underhanded or not.

Both of these things herald the end of debate and the beginning of a descent into nonsense and the absurd.

~Raven~
 
I used to do some BBS stuff way back when and I definitely think that the online dynamic/culture/whatever has changed a lot when it comes to debating and people taking things personally. Because even in the early days of the internet it wasn't the case either.

Not sure why it changed or when, exactly, but it most definitely did change. And I don't think that this has anything to do with age, per se, but a change in culture as the technology evolved.

One reason is because back during the days of of 300-1200 baud, very few people even had computers, let alone modems. So, if you had access to bbs's, that in and of itself meant that you were a part of an "alternative" scene. The way it is now, having access to the internet is more and more of a default, at least in "westernized" countries. So, instead of a way of finding common ground as a function of this shared "anomaly", people simply accept the internet as one more type of communication tool, such as the telephone.
 
The world HAS changed (culture).
See, I don't think that that world has changed, necessarily. What I think has changed is the online culture. It's gone from a bunch of people who had the internet in common (where it was a rarity) to a ubiquitous tool where people can hide behind the typed word as a screen that bypasses the usual norms of social decency.

I often wonder if some of the more arrogant, self-important posters would say the same things if sat around in a coffee shop, discussing the issues. I wonder if there would be the same amounts of INDIGNATION at others making statements, and so on.

It's seems all the "people" evaporated and got replaced with either victims or crusaders.
And those that seem to flop from one to the other whenever it is convenient to them.

The art of just good (if sometimes heated) philosophical discussion has faded away.
I think that in this way the online world reflects at least what I am seeing in the USA - the mentality of entrenchment seems to have solidified to an amazing level which certainly doesn't encourage any sort of alternative to moral, ethical, religious or political intransigence.
 
... where people can hide behind the typed word as a screen that bypasses the usual norms of social decency.

This is one of the main points that tends to get missed. Just because it's online and anonymous, doesn't mean the usual rules of civility and decorum don't exist.

That was a nice thing in the BBS days being more localized...if things had ever gotten out of hand in the chatrooms, there would have still been the weekly meets for people to sort it out toe to toe. The same as any dinner conversation or coffee shop debate would be. Hence people tended to keep the usual rules in mind.

Of course, I'm also suffering a bad case of nostalgia on this. Which is almost as bad as NRE sometimes. :)
 
I really gotta spend more time in here. I am surprised I missed this. I was a sysop of a "large" bbs of 5 nodes. Quite a good time, my first interaction with the internet was paid for service newsgroups. So long ago.

I had aout 1500 users in a small 80,000 person town. Was a large hub at the time.

My first bbs experience was early 80's. Very small bbs and I was using a phone modem (aka pick up the phone and push it into the modem) all 300 baud. Good ole apple IIc. Few years later I started my own and it expanded expodentially. I was a Renegade BBS expert so I got recruited to help people start their bbses. Good times, small community.

Discussions were varied but because these people actually existed in your life, there was no hiding behind you handle or the interweb. You talked crap, it came back into your life. I have carried that to the internet.

Definitely miss knowing the people personally...it was fairly unique in the scheme of things :)
 
I often wonder if some of the more arrogant, self-important posters would say the same things if sat around in a coffee shop, discussing the issues. I wonder if there would be the same amounts of INDIGNATION at others making statements, and so on.

No, there wouldn't. In face-to-face there are a lot of things that inhibit out-of-line behavior, from a flicker of disgust in someone's eyes right on up to a hard slap across the kisser. And a social group usually moderates a discussion before it becomes a shouting match and chairs get thrown. If nothing else, the barista calls the cops.

That's not the case online. On an unmoderated forum there are no really effective social penalties for bad actors. Even a moderated forum has trouble, I suppose partly because moderators are making decisions based on text posts and they don't have all the social cues we get in face-to-face. The social control mechanism is a lot more artificial and less organic.

I dunno, that's just my opinion. I wouldn't want to be arrogant or indignant about it.:rolleyes:
 
Even a moderated forum has trouble, I suppose partly because moderators are making decisions based on text posts and they don't have all the social cues we get in face-to-face. The social control mechanism is a lot more artificial and less organic.

Back in the day, if a Sysop booted you, that was the final decision and crying about "oppression" or "censorship" was irrelevant.

These days, with the internet spanning the globe, there is an illusion that it's all about freedom of speech everywhere. In reality, most websites (such as this one) are PRIVATE PROPERTY that is being shared conditionally by the owner(s).

So - just because you live in a "free country" and have titular "freedom of speech", doesn't mean that you have the "right" to have a keg-party in my yard, and if you try to, I DO have the right to make you GTFO.

(that's the general "you" not "you" as in a particular individual on this forum)
 
....These days, with the internet spanning the globe, there is an illusion that it's all about freedom of speech everywhere. In reality, most websites (such as this one) are PRIVATE PROPERTY that is being shared conditionally by the owner(s).

So - just because you live in a "free country" and have titular "freedom of speech", doesn't mean that you have the "right" to have a keg-party in my yard, and if you try to, I DO have the right to make you GTFO.

True. And at the same time the situation is more complex than a simple private property equals totalitarianism dynamic on the web. Many web forums intentionally cultivate various forms of democratic spirit and practice because they like to see themselves as a "community". But, of course, even actual real-life communities have police, rules, laws..., even democratic ones.

Many participants and moderators / administrators here at www.polyamory.com have intentionally cultivated a kind of spirit of community (and very informal democracy) here. And I see this as a good thing. In community, everyone's feet can -- when necessary -- be held to the fire -- whether formally or informally. I'm happy to have a spirit of informal community and democracy here. We don't have to literally vote on who moderates or performs administration. And that's well enough for me. But I do think we should continue with a spirit of accountability, so long as it doesn't require superhuman powers on the part of our generous volunteer cops.
 
Elaborated FB Status

I remember telling DDial "I'm bisexual". Somehow the [not] "secret" got out, and I attempted to set the record "straight" by posting a disclaimer in my "message" slot (you would type /m# (# = any number or letter) and a custom announcemt would scroll across the screen at 300 baud). Mine said "Yes I'm bisexual, I don't care who finds out, so stop acting like you have access to classified information" or something like that.


Immediately, the board was split into 3 kinds of people: Those who didn't give a shit, those who thought it was awesome and said "me too", and those who began to haze and harass me with "choose a sex, Neon" and "why would a woman want to lick another woman's pussy".

As for the last one, I'm here today to say "why WOULDN'T she?"
 
See, I don't think that that world has changed, necessarily. What I think has changed is the online culture. It's gone from a bunch of people who had the internet in common (where it was a rarity) to a ubiquitous tool where people can hide behind the typed word as a screen that bypasses the usual norms of social decency.

Exactly. September never ended. (A reference for the old folks among us.)
 
Many participants and moderators / administrators here at www.polyamory.com have intentionally cultivated a kind of spirit of community (and very informal democracy) here.

What? You mean it's not an indulgent tyranny? I've definitely failed my inner misanthrope....
 
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