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1994-06-06
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My View: BBSing in the 90's
Copyright (c) 1994, Andee SoRelle
All rights reserved
[Each month, a reader/writer is offered the opportunity to give his or
her viewpoint on a particular topic dear to them. If you'd like the
chance to air *Your* views in this forum, please contact Joe DeRouen
via one of the many ways listed in CONTACT POINTS elsewhere in this
issue]
Until late August of last year, my only contact with a BBS
had been purely informational. My dad sat me down at his
computer, dialed through to CompuServe for me and I searched
for some information. Since I didn't even use the
communication program myself, this experience felt
essentially like using some sort of encyclopedic software.
Then I moved to Dallas and in with a roommate who had
recently begun her own foray into the electronic world. She
pointed to the computer in the corner and told me I would
like this. I ignored her.
Two days later, I was hooked. Since then I have learned to
deal with communication software, log on to various single
and multi-node boards, transmit e-mail all over the world and
up and download all sorts of things. Apparently the rest of
the world was learning along with me.
I don't pick up a magazine, see a talk show or hear a news
report without some inclusion of words like: bbs, cyberspace,
information super highway, infobahn, or internet. I enjoy my
time wandering the electronic halls of the bbses I contact,
and will continue to do so regardless of its popularity. But.
And this is a big but. I did enjoy the uniqueness of my
choice. I was the first of the people I had known in the past
to spend my time logging on and uploading things. I selfishly
wanted this to be something I had *discovered*.
Much to my chagrin, I discovered bbsing about like Columbus
discovered a country already well-populated with a native
people. Every time I talk to an old friend, they ask me what
my internet address is and do I log on to any national
boards. Every third women's magazine has an article about
bbsing with some clever title that tries to rhyme e-mail with
female. Cheesy late-night talk shows have topics about
couples meeting on bbses and the ups and downs thereof. Cool,
left-wing monthly magazines have virtual correspondents.
I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand,
it is nice that I can leave seemingly instantaneous mail to
my family and friends with my internet gate. I enjoy (smugly)
that I am already cruising the infobahn just as the rest of
the world learns to use the clutch. I like having access to
all that the electronic village offers me. Really I do (and
I'm trying not to sound petulant at this point.)
But the other hand is waving in the air and making noises.
I'm not sure I want every housewife in America filling the
mail conferences with the same drivel that fills the
airwaves. I don't wish to meet every ham-fisted idiot that
can type with two fingers and has a computer. I'm just not
sure I want everyone to become familiar with something I
enjoy.
And there is the crux of it. I am a snob, an elitist. I want
my little corner of the universe left alone. I don't think I
will get my wish. In fact, I'm sure that each day the
overpasses of the information super highway get closer to my
home. I even find myself waxing rhapsodic to non-believers
about the joys of bbsing and actually making the very
converts I don't want. I guess I just can't have my cybercake
and eat it, too.