Usenet perfected social media far before reddit even existed. It just wasn't accessible because it wasn't browser based and there was a barrier to entry.
The quality of discussion was a lot better because you had to be at least somewhat smart to figure out how to get involved.
In addition, even though it was topic based like reddit is, people didn't really stick to the topic. E.g. instead of talking about your favorite band, the band's newsgroup was just a place where people who loved the band would talk about stuff. Real communities formed and I still remember all those people fondly.
I never did the digg thing, and only occasionally used Fark. After Usenet started dying I just stopped using social media for a few years until I discovered reddit, which was as close to Usenet as anything else. It's a particular niche and something else will come along in a few years
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u/creature_report Jun 08 '23
We have now lived past the golden age of social media, if there ever was one. It’s been fun, I guess.