The Net was small back then. You couldn't easily get access without some connection to the government, the military, major companies, or a university, and it wa

The Net was small back then. You couldn't easily get access without some connection to the government, the military, major companies, or a university, and it was small enough that your statements could and would be remembered (if only in a multitude of killfiles). So of course the level of discourse was higher than you see when twelve-year-olds can post on [website-of-the-day] and have a new account and name tomorrow.