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Here's one from my old AOL days. We originally just used email, AOL message boards, and a scheduled weekly chatroom, but once the Web took over it merged into S
by tsumnia 9mo ago
Here's one from my old AOL days. We originally just used email, AOL message boards, and a scheduled weekly chatroom, but once the Web took over it merged into Starmen.net [2]
Since we're on a "reminsence about legacy Internet" trend right now, here's the opening to [1]:
"What most people forget to remember is that it’s not just about the game. It’s about the people, it’s about the newsletters, it’s about the discussions, the trivia, the polls, the websites, and the meetings. Everything that was a part of the club was a part of the community, and there was so much involved that it was almost too much to handle. Who had the time to be a member of some 15 Online clubs? I can distinctly remember sending out invitations to join Moonside and receiving replies along the lines of “Sorry, I’m already in like 5 of these things.” Now, I wish there were more clubs and to any of you who have one: I will readily join. The only last great, recently active club I can think of now is the EarthBound Gang, arguably the greatest Online EarthBound Club ever. In early 1999, a lot of the clubs started dying out. I know that mine began to slow down, only to be restarted in the fall of 99’, and again in the summer of 00’. But as a whole, the EB clubs were never restarted, which is a shame, because some of them were downright fun."
[1] https://www.angelfire.com/ga3/ebhistory/intro.html https://www.angelfire.com/ga3/ebhistory/intro.html
[2] https://starmen.net/ https://starmen.net/
- psunavy03 9mo agoThe problem is "fandoms" as a whole have now become such toxic hellscapes I'd rather just enjoy the game/movie/TV series myself and completely ignore what anyone else's opinion of it is. I don't need things that bring me joy to be ruined by the most obsessive weirdos in the world.
- crims0n 9mo agoSites back then had benevolent dictators that curated an experience for fans. I think in many ways it worked better than the democratized communities we have today.
- roywiggins 9mo agoAll fun and games until the one person running the site crashes out and rage quits, taking the site down with it.
- bombcar 9mo agoThe thing was you had so many sites that losing one or two was sad, but not hugely destructive.
- Klonoar 9mo agoIt wasn’t so much “benevolent dictator” as it was “you’re in my house, so quit being a dick”. Toxic fans certainly existed but this approach usually led to them splintering off to create their own thing that’d inevitably wither away. (You can perhaps substitute “wasn’t so much” for some form of “in addition to”)
- andrepd 9mo agoHonestly that's just another thing that's down to algorithmic social media. Echo chambers + rewarding ragebait is an explosive combination.
- tsumnia 9mo agoWhile I agree with current "Top-Level Internet" as I call it, the blurb is referring to the '99-'00s era when we were still very much disconnected. Those clubs had a forum on AOL and that was it. I think Discord is where the "New Internet" is forming, because that's where this generation of kids are hanging out. We were in the Nintendo chat rooms, and they're in the modern day equivalents. We just think they are on Twitch and Kick because that's where the grown ups are playing games, but remember there's a reason Roblox is popular. Kids don't want to hang out with grown ups.
- rchaud 9mo agoThat's easily solved by turning off comments or forcing every comment to be approved by an admin before it was displayed; much easier back then as there simply weren't that many people online. The "Web 2.0 read/write web" of XBL lobbies, Battle.net and Discord perverted gaming culture to a point of no return.