When people ask how long I've been active in digital / social media, and I tell them over 15 years, they usually think I'm lying. I imagine this is for a number of reasons including but not limited to the simple facts that (a) I don't look my age at all, (b) while I've never been a bleeding edge I have always been a curious early adopter, (c) most folks actually think "social media" is a relatively recent development and (d) most can't imagine what "social media" could possibly be in the absence of what they've come to know as fully baked social networks. But it's true, once I moved out of the college town I hid out in for the first part of the '90s I jumped online, started reaching our and building communities and never looked back. Oh, you still don't believe me? Well it's always nice to run across a little proof from someone that was there, way back when.
Next time I'm at my mom's house I'll have to dig through my little brother's ancient Mac and see if I have any of my early emails from the original Tankboy Mailing List circa '96 still around.
OK, now who here remembers the Pavement, Jane's Addiction and Weezer mailing lists from back in the day? (Hint: Quite a few of the participants in those lists are still around, and more than a few form the backbone of what constitutes the core critical music discussion nowadays.)
I remember Joel Abbott's Jane's Addiction list, was on it from about 1995 until whenever it went away maybe 5 years later or so?
ReplyDeleteI think I have you beat. When I was 3, my mom started writing down all the stories I was telling and created a newsletter on her 1986 PC. She printed it out on one of those printers that had the holes along the side that you had to tear off. And then she mailed it out to family and friends. We did that until I was 9.
ReplyDeleteSo I totally had a mailing list before you.
Yup Ryan, that's definitely where you and I first crossed paths!
ReplyDeleteAnd Sam, what can I say? You are a TRUE trailblazer. I just find my way forward via the light of your torch... (And that story TOTALLY doesn't surprise me after meeting your mom.)
Oh man,I set up my first "blog" back around 1996-97 before the term blog was even used, it was a crappy tripod account! And IRC, #remember_that?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember trying to set up an early "blog" (though I thought of it as a daily newsletter) on one of those crappy "build your own sites for free" but could never quite figure out the best way to archive content and timestream it correctly. I got hung up trying to figure out if each should be its own new page or what. It never occurred to me that it was as simple as a stream of post, newest first. I was an idiot.
ReplyDelete1) you do look your age (hee hee)
ReplyDelete2) The Mac is in the other brother's garage in its box . . .
I suspect "Anonymous" is my mom ... and if so, I'll call tonight! I promise!
ReplyDeleteNow take back saying I look my age.
It was actually your youngest brother . . . and, no, too much fun to let the age comment linger . . .
ReplyDeleteO RLY? Guess who just earned himself a noogie the next time I see him?
ReplyDelete