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Usenet: Peoples
built 223 days ago
Usenet was the first real online community, and the public development of Usenet has had a lasting effect on the internet. For example, smilies were first used in Usenet discussions and Usenet was the first target of spammers, both of which can now be found in every corner of the internet. Usenet is the direct ancestor to the message boards commonly found on the internet today, and many people still connect to Usenet to discuss almost any topic imaginable.
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Usenet's discussion forum is a unique thing. It's still in wide use even though there are many distributed 'chat' and messaging systems that are very popular like IRC or ICQ. One possibility is that the Usenet discussion community is made up solely of old-timers and once they die off, so will Usenet. It's ... possible that the Usenet forum provides something that other messaging systems don't. For instance, perceived weaknesses such as Usenet's lack of 'real-time' discussion add a different dimension to the conversation; since it's not real-time, statements are usually more thought out. The discussions are not constrained by time: it allows seamless communication between multiple people in multiple time zones in the same discussion.
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Usenet was originally developed to solve the problem of overcrowding within the world's mental institutions. It was discovered that, rather than putting an insane person in an asylum, it was much easier (not to mention cheaper) to keep them locked in their own house with a computer and modem instead. Thus, Usenet was born, as once scientists discovered this new method of containment for the criminally insane, they realised that they would have to develop a virtual environment to replace the physical one that the insane had been removed from. Many of these people can still be observed today, living happily in their now-natural virtual habitat.
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The essence of Usenet means it will survive because of its users' determination. Usenet draws its strength from being a peer-to-peer network. People who use Usenet do so because they wish to communicate with others. This communal wish means that people on Usenet find it in their own and in the community's interest to be helpful. In this way, Usenet exists as a worldwide community of resources ready to be shared. Where else today is there so much knowledge that is freely available?
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Usenet is not a democracy. A democracy can be loosely defined as "government of the people, by the people, for the people." However, as explained above, Usenet is not an organization, and only an organization can be run as a democracy. Even a democracy must be organized, for if it lacks a means of enforcing the peoples' wishes, then it may as well not exist.
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Usenet is a large network of computers that share data with each other. It is the people on these computers that make Usenet worth the effort to read and maintain, and for Usenet to function properly these people must be able to interact in productive ways. This document is intended as a guide to using the 'net' in ways that will be pleasant and productive for everyone.
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