this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2024
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Data is Beautiful

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 5 months ago (7 children)

What is the definition of "online" for this chart? The first website wasn't even up until 1991, so how can the line start at 1980?

[–] [email protected] 53 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Grandpa was trolling DARPAnet for skanks.

[–] Willy -1 points 5 months ago

If I wanted to be called grandpa I’d of stayed with your mom.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

BBS'es and Fidonet through modem were there before the web.

Don't think many found each other on BBS's but at least they could download low res porn.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

In the early 1980s, ASCII porn :) NSFW: GIRL82.TXT, ripped by Usagi Electric

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

i found someone via bbs in 1996, though we only dated a few months.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago

In my experience, the deeper and more academic you get in the nerd forest, the freakier people get.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

University hosted BBS in 1989 here.

[–] merc 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

BBSes were a thing for decades before the Web.

The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link) was started in 1985.

CBBS dates to 1978

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Yup. My university had a fancy 16 line one.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

It's a survey, so it relies on the surveyed to tell accurately the date they meet and how, so I won't be surprised that the line here is incorrect.

Or maybe they refer to using classified ads in the newspaper or over of those "romantic meeting agency" (I don't know the name in English, in French it is agence de rencontre) that existed back in the day

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago
[–] jballs 3 points 5 months ago

I'm curious if that included classified and dating messaging services. Aziz Ansari has a good book where he interviewed people who met using those services back in the day, and were embarrassed to tell people that's how they met.