[ghaff]

Usenet could really only function in its form so long as the people who could access it were mostly part of a somewhat exclusive club. It may also be worth noting that there was the alt hierarchy and most everything else. I'm sure I'm remembering somewhat selectively based on where I participated, but I recall things like rec and comp being mostly pretty sane and mainstream and alt being a lot wilder.

[stronglikedan]

> Usenet could really only function in its form so long as the people who could access it were mostly part of a somewhat exclusive club.

A few mainstream apps, such as Outlook Express, tried to make Usenet accessible to the average Joe, but it just never really caught on with the masses.

[ghaff]

Maybe not the masses but enough spammers, scammers, and a generally less "restrained" set of users so as to really degrade it. And then, of course, the "old Internet" mostly went away and DejaNews and then Google didn't do it any favors.