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rOs's avatar

How would Fluther be different in the 80's?

Asked by rOs (3531points) June 27th, 2011

Like, this Fluther thing is totally gnarly dudes! It would be really far out to hear how it would’ve been in the 80’s!

Would we have the same important personalities that make up our current Fluther community? Was the general public much different back then? How would debates about gender, class, race, religion, science etc. differ? What questions would be characteristic to the times?

Without getting too bogged down by the specifics, would you share your insight with the collective?

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38 Answers

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

I would not be able to hold my head up for long while sitting in front of my computer,due to the sheer weight of my hair.;)

YARNLADY's avatar

Zero swearing/expletives/NSFW

wundayatta's avatar

I’d be much more into the philosophical and political questions. I’d be dressed pretty much the same except my shorts would be shorter.

ucme's avatar

I’d be sat in my budgie smuggler speedoes barely able to type without breaking into song….
“Wake me up before you go go coz i’m not planning on going solo!” XD

erichw1504's avatar

I’d ask questions like:

“What’s a good way to clean the trucks on my skateboard, dudes?”

“What’s your favorite NES game?”

marinelife's avatar

All of our avatars would have big hair.

dappled_leaves's avatar

We’d be staring at an interface that looked like this.

rebbel's avatar

We’d have to wait for days to receive the letters with our answers.

Lightlyseared's avatar

@rebbel Hey I had a modem in the 80’s and logged on to many (well 2) BB’s.

Plucky's avatar

There would be questions like this:

Do you think I have AIDS?

What are we going to do about all the Ethiopians?

Should Madonna and Michael Jackson get married?

What’s the strongest hairspray and mousse?

Do you think aliens would be as cute as E.T.?

It is possible that one day we’ll have cars like Kit on Knight Rider?

Anyone see Dallas last night?

How do I enter cheat codes on my Nintendo?

Do you think the assassination attempt on Reagan was serious?

How do I play hockey as good as Wayne Gretzky?

Are cigarettes really that bad for you?

After the Challenger accident, should we still send humans up into space?

Will the falling of the Berlin Wall be the beginning of peace?

Etc….
There were so many questions that popped up in my head from this question ..but you get the point.

MilkyWay's avatar

Did the internet even exist in the 80s?

laureth's avatar

Instead of “how do I jailbreak my iPhone?” it would be “how do I solve the Rubik’s Cube?”

And everything Plucky said.

Zaku's avatar

Instead of “OMG how can a retard like GW Bush be president?” it would be “How on earth did we get an idiot like Ronald Reagan as president?”

@jailbait The Internet existed, but web sites didn’t. There were usenet forums, however.

zenvelo's avatar

Gas is $1.30, how should I save money?

How can Reagan and Volcker raise interest rates to 20%?

Should I finally get rid of my 8 track for a cassette player for my car?

Zaku's avatar

Here are some old Atari BBS log in screens with fancy character-set graphics. ;-)

King_Pariah's avatar

I wouldn’t be here…

athenasgriffin's avatar

I would be not yet alive.

downtide's avatar

I would be… and I’d have been old enough to use Fluther too, even then…

_zen_'s avatar

Boy George would rule!

Berserker's avatar

Bummer dudes, how do you get passed the Grimreaper on Castlevania?

Bellatrix's avatar

I would be wearing clothes like this link

We would all be listening to music like this link while we fluthered.

We would be talking about movies like this link

WillWorkForChocolate's avatar

“Is my hair big enough?”

Berserker's avatar

So, you excited for the upcoming Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers? Duuude, I hope they don’t bugger up the series anymore than number five did. Total drag man, total letdown. Oh and- wait, shut up! Ninja Turtles is on!

chyna's avatar

So my hair is really, really straight and I’m really, really wanting mall bangs, so like how do I do that?

SavoirFaire's avatar

Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle are you?

Whatever happened to The Vapors?

Should we be bombing Libya?

Berserker's avatar

@SavoirFaire I’m Raphael, the grouchy one. :)

_zen_'s avatar

What is Annie Lennox wearing? Is she a guy or a dude, dude? Why are we saying dude, man?

Where has the real music gone? How does he make that keyboard sound like a whole band?

Did the computer swallow the drummer – how does it do that?

Why does everybody want to rule the world?

Kardamom's avatar

I wouldn’t be on the computer, because I’d be at the beach, slathered in baby oil catching some rays, eating a bag of Funyuns, telling my best friend how hot Sean Penn looks in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, drinking a Pepsi with real sugar in it, whilst fiddling with my battery powered transitor radio to tune into Culture Club, Adam Ant and The English Beat. Then checking my swatch to make sure that we weren’t going to be late meeting my Dad who was coming to pick us up in his Pacer.

Kardamom's avatar

Hey, does anyone have any cloves?

Berserker's avatar

@Kardamom What are ya, some kinda Goth? :D

Kardamom's avatar

@Symbeline do I look like a Goth in these Dolphin shorts and satin jacket? LOL

Just make sure you bring Jakartas and not Kuta filters OK? And if you’re stopping by the store, can you get some Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers? If they don’t have those, go ahead and get the Sun Country wine coolers, because I totally love Ringo Starr. If you can’t find those, just go ahead and get Boone’s Farm.

augustlan's avatar

I was all, like, [mod says] Knock it off, dudes. Totally.

LuckyGuy's avatar

The 80’s, huh. That could be either 30 years ago or 70 years hence. Since there was no Interweb 30 years ago, I will figure the poster wants to know about the future.

Before we sign on we all will bow to the Bendrew god in the west. There will be an affirmation that all creatures big and small of all sexual preferences have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
@ANef_is_Enuf and @FutureMemory will be asking questions about their grandchild’s hover board and @lucillelucillelucille will be asking how to modify her laser vaporizer so it tracks target more precisely.

pshizzle's avatar

I would be sitting at my huge computer that is in green and black writing. It can only do simple commands. Lucky I could even get to Fluther!

YARNLADY's avatar

In the 80’s My older son and all his friends were members of a BBS which was very similar to Fluther and Facebook, all rolled up in one. Sonny met his first wife at a BBS party/get together. The name of it was BIX, and they called each other Bixen.

MRSHINYSHOES's avatar

Women Flutherites would be constantly bumping their big shoulder pads against their laptops!

People would be going back and forth from playing on Fluther to doing their aerobics at their computer desks while watching Jane Fonda’s video and wearing leg warmers and headbands!

We would be blinded by the glare from our computers as the images of our “acid washed jean jackets and jeans” get reflected off the computer screen!

We’d say things like “You’ve gone loco!” and “Ugh, gag me with a spoon!”

Instead of asking questions about Lindsay Lohan and Cold Play, people would be asking questions about Cyndi Lauper and Tears for Fears!

chewhorse's avatar

Put it this way.. In the eighties? I’d probably STILL be in front of the screen waiting for that damned dial-up to kick in.. We’d be reading our hard drive in Mbs and those leud 4.2 floppy discs would still look stoopid..

JLeslie's avatar

I’m late to this, but I like the question. In the 80’s I would have been complaining about the national debt getting bigger, asking what hair mousse and hairspray people use, discussions about HIV (then HTLV3) and AIDS, and if anyone actually liked Princess Di’s wedding gown and are you as annoyed as me that so many formal dresses are now made with puffy sleeves.

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