this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2026
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Before internet access was common, and for a while after it did become common but still dialup, you could connect and log-in to a Bulletin Board System that people usually hosted out of their home. It would have a theme, usually, and host a mix of discussions, curated and moderated by the owner, plus file sharing, often piracy or a library of resource material.
It wasn't unusual to belong to a few of them, and because you were dialing in via phone lines, they were usually in your city due to long distance charges, which meant you could meet up in meatspace.
There was an overlap period where they became internet connected, and a kind of federation developed, and similar internet-only services developed like Hotline that were quite popular for a while (small comeback under way for hotline servers btw).