@djsundog The FidoNet community of the early 1990s. We had a fully community-funded global network over phone lines with world-wide and regional discussion groups. I ended up being one of the moderators of one of these global groups and it was exhilarating to exchange messages with people from around the world within 48-72 hours.
It was actually a very similar feeling to hanging out on Mastodon, but 35 years ago. 😊
alanz