blast from the past

[rone]

Usenet II is in a persistent vegetative state these days, but there was a time when i had a good amount of hope for it.  I still believe in the core ideas behind it, but i know now that a widespread implementation would be a much taller task than i expected then.

Comments

[ltempt.livejournal.com]

I think Usenet II was doomed from the get-go as most of the real proponents were busy posting in other groups and Other Places. I haven't looked in for quite a long time, but there was reasonable traffic and actual people conversing in the latter last time I was there - something Usenet II never really managed to get.

Frankly, the 'web forum' concept annoys me (I have a preferred client, why should I use a web thing?) and mailing lists come a close second (There was a better solution for this, so why are we using mailing lists?).

The problem is when heirarchies / networks are too small, the actions of a single individual can quickly push people out. When they're too big, one can't keep the signal-to-noise ratio up. Human nature finishes it off.