I think the pre-social network Internet had a more homogeneou userbase: more text driven, more verbose, more learned, more, shall we say, "hackery". Or whatever

I think the pre-social network Internet had a more homogeneou userbase: more text driven, more verbose, more learned, more, shall we say, "hackery". Or whatever. But there was a distinct property to that userbase that you don't get in the mainstream. I think a lot of it has to do with the bar for entry: "RTFM" requires both reading and a manual. Anyway, half baked theory.