Honestly, it was an adventure. Started with a 300 baud modem and no idea what to do because I didn’t know a single person who knew what to do (this was the mid

Honestly, it was an adventure. Started with a 300 baud modem and no idea what to do because I didn’t know a single person who knew what to do (this was the mid 1980s). I wish I could remember the first BBS I joined, because that would clearly be the first layer of the onion. Each BBS felt like a club that you needed to apply to. Each had its own mission, which was basically whatever the sysop’s motivation was. Warez, online adventure game, discussion, hell, even dating. There wasn’t real time chat, because most BBSs were single line (one user at a time). What really pushed the envelope back then, IMO, was the fun of the dark side — warez (cracking/distribution), phreaking (“free” phone calls), and of course, running your own BBS (or being a co-sysop).