A brief history of CompuServe, which pioneered social media in the 1980s with discussion boards, realtime chat and more, before the invention of the World Wide Web.

I spent a lot more time on GEnie than CompuServe but I spent a lot of time on CompuServe too. Like other former CompuServe habitués, I still remember my login: 70212,51.

CompuServe was headquartered in my hometown-by-marriage, the Upper Arlington neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. There’s a big ol' commemorative plaque on the spot now, the kind of plaque you find at historical battle sites and such.