Damn, you just made me incredibly nostalgic. Not only for Usenet, but for things like Fidonet.
Not that Usenet didn't (and still does) have its problems, but I feel you're right about the quality of the discourse in some of my old favorites. However, I've personally always attributed that to the higher barrier of entry than the medium itself. See: "the September that never ended".
Not that Usenet didn't (and still does) have its problems, but I feel you're right about the quality of the discourse in some of my old favorites. However, I've personally always attributed that to the higher barrier of entry than the medium itself. See: "the September that never ended".