Up until the late 1990s, the internet was somewhat uncharted territory for many people and the landscape was very different back then. Twitter, Facebook, and even MySpace were things that had not been invented yet. Social media simply didn't exist the way that it does today and what modes of communication did exist took a small amount of technical knowledge. Private email groups and local BBS message boards were still the primary mode of communication by the time a service known as Usenet began to gain popularity. These newsgroups made it simple for the public to create an alias and post a public discussion; not unlike a primitive, stripped-down version of Reddit. And much like the early days of Reddit, topical groups available through the service ranged from the ordinary to shocking levels of depravity.
There were no videos, gifs, or emojis as we see today as part of chat apps. This archaic online world was all ASCII and imagination, but for someone like Sharon Lopatka the online world was one of adventure and excitement. A world that she believed would fulfill all of her deepest desires, and one that ultimately lead her down a path of darkness.
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