Geeks with Bare Feet
Seeing how Usenet affects the world is something we really enjoy at Power Usenet, and the recent article “Going barefoot: As the warm days of summer roll in, some folks are ready to shuck their shoes” by McClathy Newspapers’ Joe Miller was no exception.
Joe provides a comical four page background on barefootedness. While we were surprised that this was a topic which warranted four pages of coverage, we were glad to see the newsgroups alt.rec.nude, alt.rec.backcountry, and alt.folklore.urban referenced as contributing to this proud tradition.
“Perceptions about bare feet began changing in the 1990s when a kind of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup thing happened on the Internet. Cross migration between the alt.rec.nude and alt.rec.backcountry newsgroups sparked discussion about whether it really was illegal to drive barefoot. (No, according to a widely circulated Internet survey by the alt.folklore.urban newsgroup, though Alabama does frown on anyone riding a motorcycle without shoes.) That led to more discussion about what was and wasn't legal, as well as myths associated with the practice. Proponents say the discussion helped lower inhibitions about setting our piggies free.”
Way to go guys. We’ve always known Usenet members where huge proponents of freedom!
A quick search of the newsgroups available on Power Usenet shows that alt.rec.nude is now rec.nude and alt.rec.backcountry is now rec.backcountry. We’re still not sure if Joe got the group names wrong in his article or if the groups just changed names along the way (comment on this post if you know!). Both rec.nude and rec.backcountry have vibrant communities; although one might question if there’s still a lot of cross posting going on. Since nudity and secluded places go hand in hand, perhaps the idea isn’t that farfetched.
alt.folklore.urban’s name remains the same and is chocked full of members eager to share their urban legends.
While helping people justify walking around barefooted isn’t at the top of Usenet’s accomplishment list, this story is a great example of how people use Usenet to answer questions and engage in discussions that transcend the digital world.
Joe provides a comical four page background on barefootedness. While we were surprised that this was a topic which warranted four pages of coverage, we were glad to see the newsgroups alt.rec.nude, alt.rec.backcountry, and alt.folklore.urban referenced as contributing to this proud tradition.
“Perceptions about bare feet began changing in the 1990s when a kind of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup thing happened on the Internet. Cross migration between the alt.rec.nude and alt.rec.backcountry newsgroups sparked discussion about whether it really was illegal to drive barefoot. (No, according to a widely circulated Internet survey by the alt.folklore.urban newsgroup, though Alabama does frown on anyone riding a motorcycle without shoes.) That led to more discussion about what was and wasn't legal, as well as myths associated with the practice. Proponents say the discussion helped lower inhibitions about setting our piggies free.”
Way to go guys. We’ve always known Usenet members where huge proponents of freedom!
A quick search of the newsgroups available on Power Usenet shows that alt.rec.nude is now rec.nude and alt.rec.backcountry is now rec.backcountry. We’re still not sure if Joe got the group names wrong in his article or if the groups just changed names along the way (comment on this post if you know!). Both rec.nude and rec.backcountry have vibrant communities; although one might question if there’s still a lot of cross posting going on. Since nudity and secluded places go hand in hand, perhaps the idea isn’t that farfetched.
alt.folklore.urban’s name remains the same and is chocked full of members eager to share their urban legends.
While helping people justify walking around barefooted isn’t at the top of Usenet’s accomplishment list, this story is a great example of how people use Usenet to answer questions and engage in discussions that transcend the digital world.
