How old is the oldest forum

Post by **Vain** » Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:31 am

So it got me thinking when Av said it was unusual for a forum to live as long as KW has - so the question is, how old is the oldest forum?

See if you can find any that are still active and still going after 15 years.

Considering that Al Gore only created the internet in 1994, the oldest forum can only be 23 years old....

Post by **Avatar** » Mon Mar 06, 2017 8:38 am

IGN forums have apparently been running since 1998, although on multiple platforms over time.

--A

Post by **Vain** » Mon Mar 06, 2017 9:05 am

Excuse my ignorance but what's IGN?

Post by **aTOMiC** » Mon Mar 06, 2017 12:28 pm

Though I can't name any boards that are older than KW I would be interested to know of any if anyone knows.

Post by **Sorus** » Mon Mar 06, 2017 10:29 pm

Trek BBS has been around since at least the late 90s. (Though I can't remember my login info!) Most of the boards I belonged to before that were either on AOL or Compuserve, and are long gone.

Post by **Avatar** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 4:41 am

Vain wrote:Excuse my ignorance but what's IGN?

IGN Entertainment, computer games company.

--A

Post by **Vain** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 9:11 am

Ahh so not a real forum run by normal people then

Post by **Sorus** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 11:12 pm

Wait, this forum is for normal people?

*backs away slowly*

Post by **Vain** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 6:07 am

haha - well 'people' then? if that makes you back away then i'd be curious

Post by **aTOMiC** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 12:38 pm

I was just reading that bulletin boards can be traced back to the late 70s. Maybe the early 80s. They mentioned the CBBS which is among the earliest. KW is still pretty old though and is still thriving after a decade and a half.

Post by **Sorus** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:29 pm

Vain wrote:haha - well 'people' then? if that makes you back away then i'd be curious

Rumor has it that I'm a cat. Not saying I am. Not denying it either. There's no shame in being a cat.

At least half the people on the internet are cats.

Post by **Cagliostro** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:32 pm

This was the first of the modern-like forums I had joined.
www.douglasadams.com/forum/

But yeah, AOL and some local free ones if you had dialup in the early 90s.

Post by **Avatar** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:16 am

That one doesn't appear to still be active though.

--A

Post by **Vain** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:31 am

Sorus wrote:
Vain wrote:haha - well 'people' then? if that makes you back away then i'd be curious
Rumor has it that I'm a cat. Not saying I am. Not denying it either. There's no shame in being a cat.

At least half the people on the internet are cats.

My cat died

He managed 15 years though and probably cost enough over that time to buy a car but worth every penny

Post by **Vain** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:32 am

So we could certainly be one of the oldest functioning forums on the net. That's pretty cool. Now just to figure out how to get people to still think it's a way to communicate

Post by **Avatar** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:44 am

Maybe we could win an award...

--A

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:19 pm

Vain wrote:Now just to figure out how to get people to still think it's a way to communicate

Upgrading to modern, secure, functional software might help. The upcoming launch of a new Donaldson series could be a perfect time to give this place a facelift...

Post by **Sorus** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:28 pm

Oddly enough, the board I linked up there somewhere just made the change to SSL. I don't have any idea what the process involved or how similar our software is, but it does seem to be the thing to do.

Vain wrote:
Sorus wrote:
Vain wrote:haha - well 'people' then? if that makes you back away then i'd be curious
Rumor has it that I'm a cat. Not saying I am. Not denying it either. There's no shame in being a cat.

At least half the people on the internet are cats.
My cat died He managed 15 years though and probably cost enough over that time to buy a car but worth every penny

I'm so sorry.

Losing a pet is the worst, even when they've had a good run of it. Never enough time.

Post by **Avatar** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 10:20 am

I'm Murrin wrote:
Vain wrote:Now just to figure out how to get people to still think it's a way to communicate
Upgrading to modern, secure, functional software might help. The upcoming launch of a new Donaldson series could be a perfect time to give this place a facelift...

The people have spoken Vain. (I've been saying this for years already, but clearly my voice is not important...

)

--A

Post by **Vain** » Sat Mar 11, 2017 7:31 am

Avatar wrote:
I'm Murrin wrote:
Vain wrote:Now just to figure out how to get people to still think it's a way to communicate
Upgrading to modern, secure, functional software might help. The upcoming launch of a new Donaldson series could be a perfect time to give this place a facelift...
The people have spoken Vain. (I've been saying this for years already, but clearly my voice is not important... )

--A

What is considered modern, secure and functional nowadays?
Why can't we get SRD to put a link to KW in his books??

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

How old is the oldest forum

How old is the oldest forum