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WELL_USED

                                              November 14, 2006

  Since usenet is nearly forgotten
  in the brave new world of the web,
  maybe I should write up a list of
  it's virtues...

     Distributed back-end, immune to
     slashdotting (think, P2P,
     bittorrent, etc).

     Reply-with-quote feature, and a set
     of customs that encourages close        A new sort of
     textual analysis combined with a        prose in the world...
     mimicking of the flow of dialog.

     Collegiate (as opposed to corporate)
     sense of manners: you're allowed to
     be direct, the listener is expected       Which doesn't always
     to "grow some skin" and rise above        work, of course, hence
     insult.                                   the flamewar.

                                                      It's amazing how many
  It's vices?                                         people can't deal
                                                      with social situations
     High on my list is the myth that                 without enforced
     discourse can be usefully subdivided             rules of politeness.
     into a hierarchy of topics.

                                      EXAMPLES
  Also:

     Usenet much like email, lacks any
     protection against spamming:
     it's an anarchic system where         Note: in the early days
     you're supposed to worry about        email addresses were
     your reputation.                      associated with actual
                                           identities.

                                              We were nervous about
                                              adding sources of
                                              free, anonymous log-ins;
                                              even anonymous re-mailers
                                              seemed dicey.

                                              We were afraid we might
                                              blamed for the inevitable
                                              abuses of anonymity.

                                                  It was all a new world,
                                                  no one was clear on
                                                  what the rules would
                                                  be, if any.

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