Also, the barrier for entry is so much lower now. Having a working modem and terminal program and the phone numbers of some local FidoNet BBSes was just so muc

Also, the barrier for entry is so much lower now. Having a working modem and terminal program and the phone numbers of some local FidoNet BBSes was just so much harder to organize than an email or web client is today. The high barrier helped elevate the level of conversation on things like Fido's Echomail (akin to Usenet for Fido BBSes).