Dialed In

Watch the program on YouTube here!

Long before online forums and communities like Reddit and Discord, and even before the World Wide Web, bulletin board systems (BBSs) reigned supreme. During their heyday in the 1980s and '90s, millions of people dialed their modems into more than 100,000 BBSs, and their impact can still be felt in today's digital world.

Join us to hear Kevin Driscoll, author of the award-winning book The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media, and technology and society expert danah boyd discuss the innovative world of BBSs and how they shaped the ongoing evolution of social media and the internet.

What You'll Experience

• Hear untold stories of regional and general-interest BBSs, and those for groups like HIV/AIDS activists and ham radio users.
• Learn how BBS operators and users developed early forms of community moderation, governance, and commercialization.
• Reflect on the evolution of social media and consider lessons for a more inclusive future.

Agenda

6:30 p.m. PDT
Check-in

7 p.m. PDT
Program Begins

8:15 p.m. PDT
Program Ends