Is there a place for the BBS in 2022 and beyond?

Yes. And No. And Maybe. The answer to that question partially depends on how you conceptualize what a BBS is.

Is your view of a BBS limited to a terminal connection at 80 columns where messages are rendered one at a time in sequential order? If so a BBS can still be a wickedly fun and worthwhile hobby project if approached properly. Those hobby boards do still have a place, but how that place fits into the larger picture is something that we will explore in more depth in a future article.

Alternatively, is your view of what a BBS is somewhat more descriptive and less reliant on technology specifics? I’d argue that forums and social media sites like twitter and Facebook are the modern BBS, and thus there’s not only most definitely still a place and demand for that niche, but an extreme need for a push or movement to move back towards the end user run intimacy we had with our local boards of the past.

I’m more inclined to lean to the latter definition. The boards we remember from the 80s and 90s served a purpose - connection and communication. The newer options ostensibly started out serving that same purpose and niche. Unfortunately ceding that space from the individual hobbyist’s control to commercial entities has not yielded the most positive of results.

My issues with algorithms and preying on emotions aside, we’ve lost a ton in the move to centralized monolithic providers. We’ve lost the variety and spice that small dedicated sysops brought to the online world. We’ve lost the sense of adventure and excitement that came along with exploring a new board we found. We’ve lost those cultivated experiences that dedicated hobbyists laid out lovingly for their communities. We’ve lost the light touch moderation that could be achieved on a well run board when many of the users knew each other in real life. Most importantly, we’ve lost control. Instead of creating the experience and content, we ARE the content AND the product, monetized by giant corporations who only care about the next ad dollar. The only thing we’re allowed to create is outrage, or response to it. Outrage drives engagement, engagement drives views, views drive advertising. It’s vicious and there’s most assuredly both room and need for alternatives. The quicker the better.

The good news is that we can get much of what we’ve lost back if we want it. The road to get there isn’t a short or easy one though. Throwing up a telnet message board isn’t a great experience for discourse for most when compared to modern interfaces. Chucking up a PHPbb forum on it’s own lacks the creativity and experience. We need new and novel solutions. Thankfully need breeds innovation, and the bored denizens of cyberspace have always been more creative that whoever the media elite are at any given time. Feel free to get creative and paint with whatever brush you have at hand, maybe you’ll spark someone else to create something else. We can borrow from the past and present, stir things up and reinvent communities. The sky is the limit, folks. Let’s start watching the stars instead of the cloud.