Straczynski was one of the first to actively participate in the Usenet group dedicated to his own show, creating a lot of buzz.
Those who only read the news without posting were known as "lurkers".
Plenty of reasons. A few crazy people live there, some running from the law or other authorities, some lose everything gambling, one has been there since the station was built and was afraid to leave. One episode centered around a teenage girl whos parents died so she resorted to stealing food.
And then there's the episode "Gray 17 Is Missing".