I've been reading Exploding The Telephone (about phone hackers). The author makes a case for the conference call lines (like "2111") being one of (the first?) i

I've been reading Exploding The Telephone (about phone hackers). The author makes a case for the conference call lines (like "2111") being one of (the first?) instances of a networked persistent social space. Groups of young people hanging out on these telephone company test lines... coming and going like it were a coffee house.. I've been trying to wrap my head around what it must have been like at the time.