Internet Past Tense: Trolls, Sock-Puppets, and Good Joes in the Sandbox Newsgroup

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Author(s): Joe Essid (University of Richmond, USA)
Copyright: 2014
Pages: 18
Source title: Identity and Leadership in Virtual Communities: Establishing Credibility and Influence
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Dona J. Hickey (University of Richmond, USA)and Joe Essid (University of Richmond, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5150-0.ch011

Keywords: Information Science Reference / Media & Communications / Social Computing / Virtual Communities & Virtual Reality

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Abstract

From the time of privately hosted computer bulletin boards to the rise of social networking, USENET hosted a broad array of newsgroups that hobbyists enjoyed. At The Sandbox group for collectors of 1:6 scale GI Joe toys, members developed a set of conventions governing an online community without moderation, countered trolls, and established reputations for fairness among members using pseudonyms. In time, however, these conventions began to weaken as the hobby waned in popularity. Eventually, The Sandbox at USENET came to an end as a vital community, and a diaspora to Facebook and privately hosted, moderated forums followed. This chapter studies how the USENET community worked socially, how its language evolved, and its fate when what the author calls “the Old Internet” gave way to today’s array of social-networking and multimedia applications.

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Internet Past Tense: Trolls, Sock-Puppets, and Good Joes in the Sandbox Newsgroup

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