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Yeah. SA's legacy is... complicated, and mixed, to put it mildly. But SA was so representative of that era of online culture. If you have strong memories of th

Yeah. SA's legacy is... complicated, and mixed, to put it mildly. But SA was so representative of that era of online culture. If you have strong memories of that era, then Lowtax's passing has got to hit you some kind of way.

ethbr0 5y ago
Best put. I'm not sure if younger people these days can imagine just how anonymous the internet was then. It had its advantages and disadvantages. Although I'd still rather live in the future of that world than our current identity-everywhere one.
- DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
  > can imagine just how anonymous the internet was then. It wasn't that anonymous on SA though. Once you paid your :tenbux: then the site admins (incl. Lowtax) had your PII, assuming you used your own credit-card, ofc. I don't recall Lowtax et al. ever doxxed any of their own forum patrons, at least not any in good-standing, but I assume fear from the possibility of being doxxed for being an asshat on the forums kept enough people in-line - not the fact it was $10 in 2001 (hmm, that's $27 in today's money, according to https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ - but that doesn't seem right to me)
  - bcrosby95 5y ago
    You have to press the calculate button. It reports it as around $16.
    - DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
      Derp! Wow, yes... Thank you.
  - toast0 5y ago
    Lowtax wasn't anonymous either... My friend looked up his number and address with whois and we called him, then went to his apartment parking lot and bought t-shirts out of the back of his car. Sometime circa 1999.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - 93po 5y ago
    They did respond to plenty of warrants asking for information on users, including from the secret service
  - JohnBooty 5y ago
    You're correct, although I still get the parent poster's point. You weren't anonymous on SA in the sense that law enforcement couldn't find out who you were, or whatever, unless you used a burner credit card and... never used your own wifi, or whatever. But you were anonymous in the "Google search results" sense that nobody was expected to publicly share their real names or faces, and what you posted on SA and its ilk didn't necessarily follow you around for the rest of your life.
watwut 5y ago
I had strong memories of that time and never cared or engaged with something awful. The thing is, this is subculture and past of some people. But not all people at the time nor likely majority of us.
- Breza 5y ago
  I also skipped SA even though my friends loved it. I think it still represents the carefree promise of the old internet.

ethbr0 5y ago

Best put. I'm not sure if younger people these days can imagine just how anonymous the internet was then. It had its advantages and disadvantages. Although I'd still rather live in the future of that world than our current identity-everywhere one.

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
> can imagine just how anonymous the internet was then. It wasn't that anonymous on SA though. Once you paid your :tenbux: then the site admins (incl. Lowtax) had your PII, assuming you used your own credit-card, ofc. I don't recall Lowtax et al. ever doxxed any of their own forum patrons, at least not any in good-standing, but I assume fear from the possibility of being doxxed for being an asshat on the forums kept enough people in-line - not the fact it was $10 in 2001 (hmm, that's $27 in today's money, according to https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ - but that doesn't seem right to me)
- bcrosby95 5y ago
  You have to press the calculate button. It reports it as around $16.
  - DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
    Derp! Wow, yes... Thank you.
- toast0 5y ago
  Lowtax wasn't anonymous either... My friend looked up his number and address with whois and we called him, then went to his apartment parking lot and bought t-shirts out of the back of his car. Sometime circa 1999.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- 93po 5y ago
  They did respond to plenty of warrants asking for information on users, including from the secret service
- JohnBooty 5y ago
  You're correct, although I still get the parent poster's point. You weren't anonymous on SA in the sense that law enforcement couldn't find out who you were, or whatever, unless you used a burner credit card and... never used your own wifi, or whatever. But you were anonymous in the "Google search results" sense that nobody was expected to publicly share their real names or faces, and what you posted on SA and its ilk didn't necessarily follow you around for the rest of your life.

watwut 5y ago

I had strong memories of that time and never cared or engaged with something awful. The thing is, this is subculture and past of some people. But not all people at the time nor likely majority of us.

Breza 5y ago
I also skipped SA even though my friends loved it. I think it still represents the carefree promise of the old internet.