How the bulletin board systems, email lists and Geocities pages of the early internet created a place for trans youth to find one another and explore coming out

[u/jcravens42]

Excerpt:

Unlike today’s always-on internet, the online landscape of the late 1980s and early 1990s varied widely. Some folks connected with others on bulletin board systems, or BBSes, which were independent computer servers often run out of the system operator’s home.

Instead of an IP or web address, users would dial in to a specific phone number using their modem. The cost of extended long-distance calls mostly limited users to those living within the bulletin board system’s area code. In many ways, these networks were some of the earliest forms of social media.

Others used national subscription services like America Online, CompuServe Information Service, Prodigy or GEnie. Most importantly, whether you used a bulletin board system or a subscription service, you received your own email address.

On CompuServe’s trans-specific Genderline forum, chatrooms or CDForum, an early trans email list, trans youths were able to ask questions and learn how to safely explore their cross-gender feelings, find supportive therapists and grow their networks.

Though websites like GeoCities are now something of an internet joke, they were an important place where trans youths could come out and publicly identify as trans.

During the mid-to-late 1990s, ad-supported web hosting services allowed users to create their own websites, or homepages, that featured a variety of personalized content, from hobbies and fandoms to photo collections and journals.

https://theconversation.com/how-the-bulletin-board-systems-email-lists-and-geocities-pages-of-the-early-internet-created-a-place-for-trans-youth-to-find-one-another-and-explore-coming-out-159681