The internet origin story is often focused on the creation of ARPANET or the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. But the BBSs or dial-up bulletin board systems were just as important. This story is based on “The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media,” by Kevin Driscoll.
Why Does Internet History Focus Only on the ARPANET?
The BBSs were the first form of popular networked computing in North America for over two decades. The creators of BBSs, known as system operators or “sysops,” are the leaders of computer-aided communication. Their studies about file-sharing systems and community building in the 80s served as the foundation for forums, blogs, and social networking sites that fueled the growth of the internet more than a decade later. Sadly, the systems that built this “modern world” are almost omitted from the internet origin story.
Rather than emphasizing the role of the famous invention, the prevailing myth in internet history focused on single military-funded research in computer networking. That’s the ARPANET. While surprising, the ARPANET story sets aside the everyday culture of personal computing and networking. But in truth, the trajectory of ARPANET and BBS networks were socially and materially interrelated. The birth of the internet could be an exciting collective story of thousands of networks. Unfortunately, it is repeatedly focused on the level of the ARPANET alone.
Critics, activists, executives, and decision-makers use this internet myth to support arguments on technology and society’s challenges. Advocates use the repeatedly reduced tales on the foundation of the internet when dealing with the following issues:
- Censorship
- National sovereignty
- Privacy
- Net neutrality
- Cybersecurity
- Copyright
Understanding The Birth of Wireless Broadband and Social Media
Forgetting about an equally-important root of the internet origin story has a significant impact. As wireless broadband became common in North America, the stories we tell about the history of the internet turned out to be more powerful.
Sadly, hearing the same story about ARPANET and the web for more than a decade doesn’t help us understand the social internet we have today.
Likewise, it fails to explain the rise of commercial social media that comes after the emergence of the bulletin board systems.
So, the role of BBSs should not be neglected in telling the internet history because the internet is simultaneously multiple, different, and diverse networks. This complexity was written into the architecture of the networks.
During the time of Usenet, BBSs, and Minitel, cyberspace was defined by the interconnection of thousands of small-scale local systems. Each element has its distinctive culture and technical specification, a dynamic design of overlapping communication systems held together by digital duct tape, and a handshake. It looked and felt different depending on where you plugged in your modem.
The definitive history of the internet jumps from Arpanet to the web, skipping right past the mess of the modern world. A record that consists mainly of Arpanet and the web isn’t incorrect or not valuable. There is much to learn from these networks about informal collaboration, international cooperation, public-private partnerships, and bottom-up technical innovation.
Conclusion
Amidst the complexities of the internet origin story, you might ask, “who invented social media then?” Of course, it’s not Silicon Valley! Ordinary people made the internet social. The users gradually adapted networked computers for communication between people.
In the 1970s, the ARPANET allowed remote access to expensive computers, but users made email its killer app. In the 1980s, The Source and CompuServe offered troves of news and financial data, but people were busy talking to one another on forums and in chat rooms. Then in the 1990s, the web was designed for publishing documents, but users created message boards. This means that the desire to connect with other people is fundamental.
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