I was a heavy usenet user in the 1996-2000 era and this wasn't true for me or most of the groups i hung out on (and even less so for IRC chans). Earlier (pre-e

I was a heavy usenet user in the 1996-2000 era and this wasn't true for me or most of the groups i hung out on (and even less so for IRC chans). Earlier (pre-eternal september) usenet was definitely different though and I think much more like you say - sadly that was before I was old enough to get on-line, so I never saw it.