MSGID: 2:221/6.21 76e733bb   
   PID: Hotdoged/2.13.5/Android   
   TID: jNode/Android   
   CHRS: UTF-8 4   
   Hello, All.   
      
   I was reading an article the other day titled "What Makes a Great Online   
   Community".  It actually was primarily an extended advertisement/invitation   
   for a Twitter discussion scheduled for later today.   
      
   While I have very little interest in that.  The article did raise some points   
   of interest to me.   
      
   The author mentions being introduced to online communities in 2007.   
   Specifically, having just recently joined Facebook, and learning of a new   
   thing called Twitter.   
      
   Also around that time, they discovered message forums on a website they were   
   subscribed to.   
      
   This is the highlights of what they took away from those communities:   
      
   Even though one community was on a private platform and the other was a public   
   and global event, both expected participants to be respectful toward others.   
      
   Community members offered two-way feedback. There was (and still is) a   
   wonderful balance between giving and taking, asking and answering.   
      
   The members created tight-knit, global communities that supported people   
   despite living miles apart or in different time zones.   
      
   I felt that both communities were safe, nonjudgmental spaces.   
      
   It gave me the opportunity to network with like-minded people.   
      
   Learning from people from all over the world is an enriching experience.    
      
      
   While I'm reading that, I find myself thinking that this is exactly what I   
   found more than 20 years prior to that in the BBS community and eventually   
   Fidonet.   
      
   So why is it the online forums and things like Facebook and Twitter are such   
   huge presences in the world, but Fidonet, and the BBS community in general,   
   aren't?   
      
      
   --   
   Best regards!   
   Posted using Hotdoged on Android   
   --- Hotdoged/2.13.5/Android   
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