That's more of a social problem than a technical one. Although iterating on the technology ultimately circumvented it, it could have been addressed without completely throwing away usenet.
What changed was the user profile. Late 80s/early 90s internet was used almost exclusively by academics and engineers. Mid-90s onwards it was open to everyone, and Usenet access was a free feature of most dial-up accounts.
Usenet was ground zero for that change, because university and corporate admins had to deal with a lot of new groups - including those devoted to binaries, and especially porn.
There was a lot of gatekeeping, but the useful groups either migrated or disappeared under spam, and the conversations moved elsewhere.
HN is probably the closest thing to the original culture, but HN's single page design means you don't get the intense focus and conversational momentum of Usenet's professional groups.
Comments
There was horrible arrogant gatekeeping for new feeds, especially if you asked for a moderated feed.
Those gatekeepers never saw the train coming (web) and then it was too late.
That's more of a social problem than a technical one. Although iterating on the technology ultimately circumvented it, it could have been addressed without completely throwing away usenet.
Usenet was never thrown away. It's still there if you want it, but you'll have to pay to use it.
https://www.usenet.com/
What changed was the user profile. Late 80s/early 90s internet was used almost exclusively by academics and engineers. Mid-90s onwards it was open to everyone, and Usenet access was a free feature of most dial-up accounts.
Usenet was ground zero for that change, because university and corporate admins had to deal with a lot of new groups - including those devoted to binaries, and especially porn.
There was a lot of gatekeeping, but the useful groups either migrated or disappeared under spam, and the conversations moved elsewhere.
HN is probably the closest thing to the original culture, but HN's single page design means you don't get the intense focus and conversational momentum of Usenet's professional groups.