september that never ended

September that never ended


   All time since September 1993. One of the seasonal rhythms of the
   Usenet used to be the annual September influx of clueless newbies who,
   lacking any sense of {netiquette}, made a general nuisance of
   themselves. This coincided with people starting college, getting their
   first internet accounts, and plunging in without bothering to learn
   what was acceptable. These relatively small drafts of newbies could be
   assimilated within a few months. But in September 1993, AOL users
   became able to post to Usenet, nearly overwhelming the old-timers'
   capacity to acculturate them; to those who nostalgically recall the
   period before, this triggered an inexorable decline in the quality of
   discussions on newsgroups. Syn. eternal September. See also {AOL!}.