the online "culture" predates the "internet"

ska · on Aug 28, 2015

You are confusing the "the internet" with "the web".

The internet has been around for about as long as it's been sensible to describe an online culture. While in the early days (e.g. 70's, 80's) the internet certainly wasn't the only network to be influencing culture (c.f. FidoNet) it was a primary source, particularly via university campuses.

spacecowboy_lon · on Aug 28, 2015

Lol how old are you young man :-) I have been online since the early 80's I used to work for Telecom Gold and Prestel back then.

I even get a dedication (to my handle) in one of the books (written by a booker prize nominated author) covering the early online culture in the UK.

There has been an online culture at least the 70's - and that is not counting precursor tech like telegraph and radio hams

ska · on Aug 28, 2015

Exactly - the internet had been a big contributor to online culture through the 70s. Of course this stuff all had precursors in things like ham radio, model trains, etc. but it's not really sensible to identify those as "online". Nothing springs from the void.

Nice to get called "young man" though, it's been a while :)

[edited, after parent was]