Usenet (IRC channels too) had a sense of _place_ that I think is less common in mainstream social media, but still exists to an extent in forums, just with a worse interface overall. I remember some things fondly (partly because I was a teenager) but I'd struggle to say it was superior and certainly no healthier than today. I don't remember it being tech-focused or professional, unless you only hung out in comp.* and not alt.*. Like, who remembers Terry Tickle etc?