BBSs

A bulletin board system (BBS) is a computer server that enables users to connect remotely to read and post messages, exchange files, play games, and participate in online communities. Access is typically through a modem dialing a telephone line, though later BBSs offered Internet-based access via telnet or web gateways. Once connected, users interact through a text-based interface, often enhanced with ANSI art and simple menus.

BBSs organize content into areas such as message boards, file libraries, and online chat or private messaging. Message boards allow threaded discussions, while file sections host software, documents, and other uploads. Many BBSs also ran door games—standalone programs that users could play through the BBS session, sometimes interacting with other players in real time or taking turns in a shared game world.

Historically, BBSs emerged in the late 1970s and proliferated through the 1980s and early 1990s. They facilitated online communities before the widespread use of the Internet. Networks such as FidoNet connected thousands of BBSs for mail and echomail (forum-like messaging), enabling cross-board communication. Popular BBS software packages included Renegade, WWIV, WildCat! BBS, Mystic BBS, and Synchronet, each providing a framework for user accounts, message storage, file libraries, and game modules.

With the rise of the Internet and graphical web access, traditional dial-up BBS activity declined. Some boards remain in operation as nostalgic or hobby projects, often offering Telnet or SSH access, and continuing to host discussions, file archives, and games. The BBS era influenced online culture, user interface design, and early digital communities, aspects echoed in later social and collaborative platforms.