1982: the ARPANET community grows

As the ARPANET entered its second decade, it was still largely confined to the United States. Academic institutions depended on federal funding to join the network, so the number of nodes expanded slowly. By 1982, the network only had about 100 nodes. But that was enough to support a vibrant online community. Long before Facebook and Twitter, ARPANET allowed computer scientists who had access to the network to stay in touch. A new bulletin board system called Usenet was invented in 1980 and caught on quickly. Usenet was organized by topic, allowing users to swap programming tips, recipes, jokes, opinions about science fiction, and much more.