THE MODEM WORLD: A PREHISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIA
What is it?
Fifteen years before the commercialization of the Internet, millions of amateurs across North America created more than 100,000 small-scale computer networks. The people who built and maintained these dial-up bulletin board systems in the 1980s laid the groundwork for millions of others who would bring their lives online in the 1990s and beyond.
Fifteen years before the commercialization of the Internet, millions of amateurs across North America created more than 100,000 small-scale computer networks. The people who built and maintained these dial-up bulletin board systems in the 1980s laid the groundwork for millions of others who would bring their lives online in the 1990s and beyond.
Who is it for?
Everyone interested in the history of the Internet.
Everyone interested in the history of the Internet.
What can it do?
The Modem World tells an alternative origin story for social media, centered not in the office parks of Silicon Valley or the meeting rooms of military contractors, but rather on the online communities of hobbyists, activists, and entrepreneurs. Over time, countless social media platforms have appropriated the social and technical innovations of the bulletin board system community. How can these untold stories from the internet’s past inspire more inclusive visions of its future?
The Modem World tells an alternative origin story for social media, centered not in the office parks of Silicon Valley or the meeting rooms of military contractors, but rather on the online communities of hobbyists, activists, and entrepreneurs. Over time, countless social media platforms have appropriated the social and technical innovations of the bulletin board system community. How can these untold stories from the internet’s past inspire more inclusive visions of its future?
Driscoll, K. (2022). The modem world: A prehistory of social media. Yale University Press.