The Ledge dates

[David]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

There used to be a thing called "alt net" - which was "newsgroups" that you could access through your ISP. My ISP quit paying for them,....at least 5 years ago. Anyway, back in 1996 ish, there was a FM newsgroup, that I found when I got my first computer. Chili, David, Jbrownsjr were there, as well as a few others.

David invited me here, maybe 2000 ish? I lurked for a couple of years, then finally joined.

The first Ledge was in the old Matt Wright script format (a bit like how the comments section works on news websites, with a reply "tree" building horizontally—to the right—and vertically—downward).

The Usenet group alt.music.fleetwood-mac, created by Joe Admire of Manassas, VA, was at the height of activity in 1995—1996, when Marty Adelson constructed the Penguin, borrowing content heavily from a pre-existing Mac fan site created by Jeff Kenney. One group of fans (largely older) hung out on Usenet, and another group (demographically much younger) swarmed to the Penguin, where Marty had since set up a message board he called The Ledge.

Steve and one or two others were vocal members in both locations, but I hung exclusively on Usenet. Because Marty also spent some time on Usenet, he knew me and often asked me to join The Ledge. Once I wrapped my head around the idea that a web message board could be just as fun as a Usenet group, I joined. It was in the years before "The Dance," so message board talk largely centered on Stevie's "Street Angel," Lindsey's "Out of the Cradle," and "Time." With the release of "The Dance" and its surprising popularity, message board activity took off in a million different directions, with the single forum divided into subforums for each singer or each era and an off-topic chat board (and live chat room using a downloadable JavaScript file) added.