Re: Where do posters go?

I  remember the furore and noise increase as "AOLers" started
invading usenet. But the "AOLers" looked like a good common
sense bunch of literate people when the WebTV crowd started
joining. Most of what they posted was barely recognisable as
English.

Paul

"Larry Dighera" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> While the inundation of usenet by naive users during the surging tide
> of AOL subscribers of the mid '90s did contribute to usenet's
> diversity, their naivete has reduced usenet's signal to noise ratio
> significantly.
>
> IIRC, usenet was originally provided to government contractors for the
> dissemination of scientific/contract-related/workgroup-production
> information purposes.  When the universities provided student access
> to usenet, it became a wall for graffiti in addition to becoming a
> rich source of information on many diverse subjects.  With the advent
> of public usenet access, it has become the world's most egalitarian
> communications medium; (nearly) all users are afforded the same exact
> options: to author a posting, or not.  Beyond a requirement for
> literacy and a terminal, the entire world's public is granted a voice.