Anybody remember what DU was like before the Lounge?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

I was informed today that DU was once Lounge free.

What was it like? Was it dark and scary and filled with gloom and doom? Or, was it a group of like minded people who were like a family? Or, was this person pulling my leg?

[JimmyJazz]

1. You're kidding, right? Wait! What do you mean, no lounge ---

you mean there are other forums????? I have heard rumors about this place callled "GD" but I they were just that - Rumors, ya know? It's kinda like Winnie the Pooh finding out that there are places beyond the Hundred Acre Wood or something. I'm scared. Hold me close please. :scared:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. That's what I said!

Funny thing is I actually posted this in GD first by mistake... Needless to say I did a quick self-delete. ;)

[RevolutionaryActs]

6. HOLD ME TOO!

No Lounge? CRAZY TALK! :scared:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. It's ok.... there, there..

They saw the error of their ways and created it... and all was good on DU. :)

[RevolutionaryActs]

16. *sniff*

That was a scary story. :(

[Orangepeel]

2. DU was much smaller then

So (at least in my memory) general discussion wasn't as flamey. There wasn't a much of a need to "escape" to somewhere nonpolitical.

There were still plenty of disagreements, of course. It IS a discussion board, after all.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. So it is true...

I thought it had to have been in the beginning of DU if at all. I don't think it would thrive as well today without the refuge of the Lounge.

You'd have too much fluff getting in the way.

Thanks for your reply :)

[Orangepeel]

10. Yes, it is true!

I've been here since early 2001 -- not from the start in January, but maybe March. There was an LBN forum and one GD forum. I think there were a few specialized forums, but I'm not sure how many.

People were begging for a forum where they could discuss nonpolitical topics, and, as always, the admins were very responsive. They even had a thread where people discussed what to call the new forum (we couldn't do polls, so we didn't officially vote).

[Lone_Star_Dem]

14. DU has the best Admins of any board I've ever been on...

They make you feel like you're an active part of the experience, instead of just along for the ride.

[illini]

3. Despite my number of post I have been here a long time but I..........

Don't remember not having a lounge. Although, all that cough syrup I drink hasn't helped my memory. JK

[KoKo]

8. I've been here since after the first six months of DU....I was asked to

come to the Lounge and say "Hi" when I really joined after "lurking" in the Fall of 01...The lounge has been here in some form since at least after the first six months...at least to my memory...

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. I peeked at your profile

It says you've been here since 2001. The Lounge must have been add pretty early on then. Either that or you weren't kidding about the cough syrup. :P

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. I joined in the fall of 2001....

but had lurked since February of 2001.

At the time I didn't have a computer at home and was loathe to read too much at work. The invasion of Afghanistan finally did it to me, and I bought the home computer in January of 2002.

The Lounge existed when I joined DU. Before that, I could not spend much time in the forums...getting caught at the office would not have been good.

[SmileyBoy]

7. The Lounge has existed at least since February 2002.

This website was created in January 2001.

[Pithlet]

12. Yep. It's true.

I can remember the thead where people were discussing what to call the new forum. I was just a wee little lurker, then.

[davsand]

15. I remember pre-Lounge DU along with the Underground.

General Discussion was a lot more diverse back then (and a lot more pleasant) and LBN was just beginning to get a reputation on the net as the place to go for news.

Does anyone else remember the Underground?


Laura

[Orangepeel]

17. I remember there BEING an underground

I never applied to get in, though and it was disrupted or something soon after I got here.

[greatauntoftriplets]

18. I remember reading about the Underground....

It disappeared sometime before I joined.

[greatauntoftriplets]

19. Just found the Lounge archives on DU 1. Began July 21, 2001.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?forum=DCForumID40&az=list&archive=yes