[Forgeties79]

> I think there are lots of other things going on there over and above the moderation issue, but one is that the early Internet culture was very self-selected for people who thought that the ability to talk to people and the ability to access information were morally virtuous.

Honestly I think it mostly self selected based on who had the technical ability to participate, especially at that time.

[blatherard]

Also early internet access was gated by institutions. Most people were using their work or school internet access to be online, and so behavior was naturally more controlled. When I was first online (circa 1990), I could have been "kicked off the internet" by my college's IT department.

[Forgeties79]

Very good point. Ability and access.