In 1987, before I even graduated high school - I was doing the 'online' thing...
Back then, there were 1-2 line Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes) - so called, because you left messages like you would on a traditional bulletin board. You'd hang up, dial back a few hours later, and
see if anyone had replied to what you had said. Email wasn't something anyone had, outside of universities and large companies...so there was no notification...you just waited.
With the exception of a few local technical BBS systems, the only way to reach out and meet people was through large online services, like Compuserv, GENie, and Delphi.
The internet, as it is today, wasn't even a pipe-dream. We were all still stuck in the land of dialup modems, at 1200, or 2400bps (think about that...when you bitch about your DSL being slow!)
In 1989, I created my own little 'piece' of heaven on Delphi called 'Shooting the Bull'. I was active on other parts of the system, had accounts on COmpuserv and GEnie as well, but that was what
I considered my 'online home'.
It grew - exponentially. At one time, I had 3-400 people dropping by my little 'Custom forum #30' on any given day. It seems quite a small number now, but back then - that was a MONSTROUS amount
of people for any 'forum' to have. It was so successful that Delphi basically comp'd my account for life...because it contributed to their income. See, it was 1$/hour back then for access.
As years went by, I slowly lost interest, people moved on, and the place slowly died. You can try doing a Google Search, if you like, in the 'Groups' portion of Google... look using the search
term "shooting the bull" +delphi...
College took some time to get adjusted to, and I gravitated to local BBSes. There was one in DFW called Argus. That was the neatest place! It was a 'multi' user BBS, meaning that 15-20 people
could be online at the same time. It even had a live chat module...which previously had been limited to the huge systems previously mentioned.
It was an awesome thing, back in those days - as you had to trust what people told you, or not. There were no pictures of people (scanners were just not affordable!) and files took WAY too long to
download. Everything was text based...if you couldn't type, you were at a complete loss.
Any person you met could be telling the complete truth, or completely fabricating themeselves, much like what happens in the chatrooms around the world these days.
This particulary BBS had monthly 'gatherings' - safe places for the users of the system to meet each other. You could finally meet the people you had been talking to...it was phenomenal!
I met a woman, and we got married - spent 5 great years together! (keep in mind, this was back in 1993!)
About the time my marriage fell apart, I found another place - called Callahan's Saloon - based on a book and concept by Spider Robinson, and it became a lifeline to friends, many of whom I still talk with today. Believe it or not, it's still around - going strong! (
But again, time went on, and after 3-4 years, I spent less and less time there...It's been 10 years now, and they STILL welcome me back as an old friend...send me birthday wishes on the message boards, even if I haven't been in for 8-10 months. NOw tell me, how cool is that? Isn't that what an online community should be?
Anyway...my purpose for sitting down to write this, even though it's morphed into something I didn't necessarily expect it to become, was to compare those old places to CherryTap.
Those places welcomed new people, and they were comforting, neat places to be. Always someone to talk to, primarily through message boards, and always something new to do.
I didn't get that feeling on MySpace...it just felt, cold and artificial. Except for the people you knew, it always felt like you were prying when you looked at someone else's profile - and it
felt like requesting friendship from someone you didn't know needed 'justification' of some type or another.
Cherrytap seems to have that type of atmosphere. There doesn't appear to be any strangers here. If you see something, you can comment on it...rate it...share it with a friend. It's very OPEN here...
Now, in all of my previous online 'homes', there were always abusers...haters as they are called here on CT. It's to be expected...it's like what is mentioned in the Matrix...people genetically cannot handle happiness all of the time. They instinctually try to screw it up.
Barring the haters, of which I've not had any dealings yet, I'm glad I found CherryTap...it's warm, it's inviting - but most of all, it's fun. Lots to do, see...I love the notifications when people update their stuff.
So, although I've only been here a VERY short time, I wanted to take the opportunity to issue a huge thank you to everyone who's accepted my friendship - double thanks to those who actually fanned me in return...and an inexpressible amount of thanks to everyone who has taken time to rate any of my pictures, or my blogs...or stopped by to drop me a comment.
I like it here...:) I think I'll stay a while!
Ken
