Going back to my earliest participation in discussion groups such as Compuserve, Newsnet, etc. (remember 14.4 modems?)
I don't remember Newsnet. My main participation was on newsgroups on Usenet, and they were quite disciplined. I've always thought it was because people had to be somewhat in the know to even find the newsgroups, and behaved themselves, like being considerate of other people's time and bandwidth.
If people wanted to veer the discussion, they'd usually start a new thread.
My main participation was on alt.asian-movies, alt.fashion, rec.windsurfing, and a sewing one (can't remember if it was alt. or rec.). I still remember someone posting that he'd seen Jet Li walking around in a mall in San Antonio and asked why he would have been there, and someone came along and said he was filming
Once Upon a Time in China and America out in Brackettville.
Nobody chimed in with, "I don't like Jet Li" or the like. I do remember people saying they were super jealous of the guy who just happened across Jet Li walking around in a mall in San Antonio, and I thought, "The internet is the best thing ever."
But the sewing group is where I lost faith. I was successful finding a source for a particular double-knit fabric I was looking for. I'd been to every type of fabric store and they didn't have what I wanted, and didn't know where I might get it.
So I got on the sewing newsgroup and described the heft and stretchability I was looking for, and someone said it sounded like what they use for ice skating costumes. That had never occurred to me. Then I found a place that sells ice skating costume fabric and got a phone number and they sent me some samples and it was exactly what I wanted.
I can't imagine how I would have done that without some helpful people on the internet. And nobody said, "Try JoAnn Fabrics."
But some time later I was looking for a particular sewing notion that I had one of but couldn't remember where I got it. Someone said, "Walmart."
Great! So I went to Walmart and looked all around and saw nothing of the sort, and realized this person hadn't actually seen it at Walmart, but just assumed Walmart would have it. Then I started noticing more and more answers like that--where people offer information or suggestions without actual experience, without indicating that they don't actually know whether what they're saying is correct.
This is the decline I was referring to, which appears to be different from what you experienced. Maybe I just happened to gravitate to forums where people valued staying on the subject.
