hijacked online communities
Barbara is a widow, she lives a long way out of town and has relied upon online communities for her friendship needs for nearly thirty years – going back to the old Bulletin Boards – and she is becoming increasingly worried that commercial interests are hijacking our connectivity.
“Prior to the Internet (which required a middle-man ISP cost, becoming more costly each year),” says Barbara, “did you know that free and private BBS online communities thrived in cyberspace?”
“All you needed was a pc and a phone connection and you could either host a BBS or connect to one of hundreds,” says Barbara. “It was very much like most online community discussion groups but without moderators, advertisements and search engine trackers; and you could also engage privately by chatting in real-time or sending private messages.”
“Nearly 30 years later - having participated in just about every Internet community available, none of which came close to providing all of the basic features once enjoyed on the old bulletin boards,” says Barbara, “I'm saddened that commercial interests are hijacking our connectivity.”
“I've been tapped to death by trackers, targeted ads and profile profiteers; sucked into social networks formed for the sole purpose of putting the hard word on you once you're hooked; and have recently cut loose from a 9 yr blog community which became spoiled when most members started plastering ads over their blogs and demanding reciprocal clicks.”
“Of the non-commercial communities, IRC is good for chat (if you don't mind being hacked every five minutes) and niche email groups are good for intellectual stimulation (if you don't mind a huge inbox); and because I do I'm between a rock and a hard place at the moment – but I still remain active in an online retirement community, helping others cope with their computer and Internet problems.”
Read more about Barbara's story:
global village widow
online caring communities
“Prior to the Internet (which required a middle-man ISP cost, becoming more costly each year),” says Barbara, “did you know that free and private BBS online communities thrived in cyberspace?”
“All you needed was a pc and a phone connection and you could either host a BBS or connect to one of hundreds,” says Barbara. “It was very much like most online community discussion groups but without moderators, advertisements and search engine trackers; and you could also engage privately by chatting in real-time or sending private messages.”
“Nearly 30 years later - having participated in just about every Internet community available, none of which came close to providing all of the basic features once enjoyed on the old bulletin boards,” says Barbara, “I'm saddened that commercial interests are hijacking our connectivity.”
“I've been tapped to death by trackers, targeted ads and profile profiteers; sucked into social networks formed for the sole purpose of putting the hard word on you once you're hooked; and have recently cut loose from a 9 yr blog community which became spoiled when most members started plastering ads over their blogs and demanding reciprocal clicks.”
“Of the non-commercial communities, IRC is good for chat (if you don't mind being hacked every five minutes) and niche email groups are good for intellectual stimulation (if you don't mind a huge inbox); and because I do I'm between a rock and a hard place at the moment – but I still remain active in an online retirement community, helping others cope with their computer and Internet problems.”
Read more about Barbara's story:
global village widow
online caring communities
Labels: bbs, bulletin boards, commercial interests, email groups, internet communities, irc, online communities, retirement community
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