OMG I just remembered the BBS craze. Which happened in the decade or so between my childhood computers (Commodore 64), and owning my first PC, so I didn't get to participate. By the time I got back into computers, net connections, email and the web were a thing.
But the BBS is one aspect of the future we need to build. A community-hosted server, offering members a range of services, connected to others via an open digital network.