You've Come a Long Way, Baby
...before the term "social media" was created, there was The WELL. The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, more commonly known as The WELL, launched in 1985 and is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. It was a San Francisco based dial-up bulletin board system that utilized computer modems and multiple phone lines. The site was organized into categories and then subcategories, and at the end of each topic, discussion boards occurred. Compared to today's standards, it was the equivalent to Pong.
That was 38 years ago. Microsoft had just released Windows 1.0, "new" Coke was created, Blockbuster was founded, The Cosby Show was the number one TV show, matinee ticket prices were $2, Back to the Future was the top film, cordless landline phones were new, your keyboarding class was on a typewriter and Wite-out was your best friend. And at the end of the week, your outfit for your Friday night date with your SO consisted of some type of neon clothing, big hair, leg warmers, acid washed jeans, and off the shoulder shirt. And in those acid washed jeans you had a quarter in your pocket so you could use the pay phone to ask your mom if you could stay out later than your curfew. Welcome to the mid 80's.
My casual senior picture circa 1987. The studio used it for advertising unbeknownst to me. As you can see, I am sporting the mandatory big hair and acid washed jeans:
Since it was a text-based interface predating hypertext, visual rhetoric was basically non-existent, as you can see in these screenshots below:
However, at the time, it was glorious, engaging, and life changing.
Funny of how we how things have changed, for now in 2023, we are working hard to grab your attention and hold it for more than a millisecond before you move onto the next site, and a page can include not only text, but a variety of fonts, images, charts, colors, videos, and hyperlinks. Good-bye, Pong.....hello Fortnite Battle Royale.
You truly have come a long way, baby.
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