17640.2337
Sep. 25th, 2024 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kathleen_daileyI bet almost no one who's reading this will recognize that particular five-digit, dot, four-digit user ID format, but I remember my original CompuServe login code to this day.
This article discusses CompuServe's origins and its pioneering pre-WWW role in enabling online communication--and community. In the author's words,
That last sentence is a dramatic understatement. It's hard to convey how pathbreaking CompuServe was, and what a positive impact its forums had on very early internet culture. CompuServe's forums were mostly places of civil discourse, cooperation, and generosity of spirit. For those of us who didn't yet have net access through work or university, it provided a seemingly miraculous way to communicate instantly--not just with friends and colleagues through email, but through public conversations with a universe of like-minded people who were engaged, friendly, and unhesitatingly willing to ask and answer questions and discuss whatever minutiae a forum was focused on.
I've noted before how the participants in the Craft of Writing forum, among others, on CS influenced me and my writing. Looking at the social media culture of 2024, I feel a bit sad remembering the open, generous exchanges on those boards that allowed readers, writers (both pro and amateur), fans, and random passersby to--literally--watch and learn.
About that 5-dot-4 user ID format: I remember that CS users were quite pissed off that rival service AOL offered its members personalized addresses and sign-ins. It took quite a while for the CompuServe PTBs to make that seemingly minor modification, and I was so happy when I could finally change my email address from "17640.2337@compuserve.com" to "editrix@compuserve.com." It's the little things ...
CompuServe was different in its culture and user makeup from, say, GEnie, where the biggish names in science fiction and fantasy later tended to hang out on the RoundTables. But it had its own special appeal, and I still kinda miss it.
I have the late Claire Gabriel to thank for persuading me to sign on to CompuServe. As in so many other areas of my fannish life, she encouraged me to expand my horizons and to think outside the box (before that cliché was a cliché ).
This article discusses CompuServe's origins and its pioneering pre-WWW role in enabling online communication--and community. In the author's words,
CompuServe also had popular forums that were divided into various areas of interest, everything from needlepoint to NASA. [Will] Cowman said that there were thousands of these forums.
"These communities I connected to were really supportive and really interesting," Cowman said. "People were very eager to help out and share and expand their online community."
That last sentence is a dramatic understatement. It's hard to convey how pathbreaking CompuServe was, and what a positive impact its forums had on very early internet culture. CompuServe's forums were mostly places of civil discourse, cooperation, and generosity of spirit. For those of us who didn't yet have net access through work or university, it provided a seemingly miraculous way to communicate instantly--not just with friends and colleagues through email, but through public conversations with a universe of like-minded people who were engaged, friendly, and unhesitatingly willing to ask and answer questions and discuss whatever minutiae a forum was focused on.
I've noted before how the participants in the Craft of Writing forum, among others, on CS influenced me and my writing. Looking at the social media culture of 2024, I feel a bit sad remembering the open, generous exchanges on those boards that allowed readers, writers (both pro and amateur), fans, and random passersby to--literally--watch and learn.
About that 5-dot-4 user ID format: I remember that CS users were quite pissed off that rival service AOL offered its members personalized addresses and sign-ins. It took quite a while for the CompuServe PTBs to make that seemingly minor modification, and I was so happy when I could finally change my email address from "17640.2337@compuserve.com" to "editrix@compuserve.com." It's the little things ...
CompuServe was different in its culture and user makeup from, say, GEnie, where the biggish names in science fiction and fantasy later tended to hang out on the RoundTables. But it had its own special appeal, and I still kinda miss it.
I have the late Claire Gabriel to thank for persuading me to sign on to CompuServe. As in so many other areas of my fannish life, she encouraged me to expand my horizons and to think outside the box (before that cliché was a cliché ).
no subject
Date: 2024-09-26 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-26 11:06 am (UTC)And oh, the memory of internet minutes! At least that limitation ensured (more or less) that I didn't spend every waking hour online. :)
no subject
Date: 2024-09-26 06:12 pm (UTC)The truth is, I've tried different emails over the years. Either they go away, or I lose my password and can't seem reset it, or even more complicated issues where I end up losing access (Outlook continues to tell me my credentials aren't updated and updating them doesn't stick). AOL is the only one that's been consistently reliable, so I always end up going back to it. The cell phone app is pretty great too, IMO.