#sfcon — Public Fediverse posts

@Em0nM4stodon As a user from well back in the day, pre-1990...this space reminds me a great deal of the original EFNet/NSFNet/ARPANet I used to inhabit when I was in college, prior to The September That Never Ended (if anyone picks up on that reference).

The users came from a mostly academic or research-forward corporate background; the powers that be in the corporate world mostly had no conception of what the Internet was, and once they discovered it, still didn't have a real idea how it worked, as it was antithetical to the ethos of capitalism. Thus, the user base exhibited traits associated with enthusiastic engineers and academics: braininess, neophilia, curiosity, imagination. Being geeky and different was celebrated and encouraged. The same mentality you might find at an SF convention, art gallery, museum, or junior/local theater project. Communities were intentional, and there was a sense of reciprocal rights and recognition...a celebration of our global diversity.

Of course, flamewars there were...but overall, there was a nurturing of positive growth within the space.

Ancient history, of course. I am wondering if there is a self-regulation that's involved. When I describe the Fediverse to others, even friends whom I consider intelligent, there seems to be a lack of exact comprehension about what it is I'm talking about. (And among my age cohort, there's also a fatigue with social media in general, which I think is partly a function of age, and partly an accrual of bad experiences on Facebook and other corporatized media.)

When I started my phpBB forum as a general online space, I found the "culture" of such forums to be *radically* different. I described it as the "what's your favorite donut" mentality - everything was facile and superficial, like the scene in the kitchen at an awkward party. It just never took off and I don't have any idea why. (Several people close to me have encouraged me not to delete the forums; if you wish to go there, see my profile and pinned post for the address and registration code.)

#Fediverse #EFNet #ARPANet #NSFNet #phpBB #Forum #SFCon #diversity