CONNECTED ABRIEF HISTORYOF THE FORTEAN TIMES MESSAGE BOARD

Throughout the 1990s, the Fortean Times was riding high. General interest in fortean subjects was still extensive, thanks largely to the success of The X-Files, and there was a sudden proliferation of fledgeling digital offerings. Forteana itself was on the cusp; by the end of the decade, interest in UFOs was dying away and ghosts were coming into vogue once again (Most Haunted would debut in May 2002) and the world was well-disposed toward the weird. In 2001, the Fortean Times itself was on a cusp of its own: it parted company with John Brown Publishing and joined the IFG (I Feel Good) stable, and around this time it was decided that it should have its own website to mirror the magazine’s content. This had subscription info, copies of articles, a whole section devoted to It Happened to Me (the pick of which made print in the mag itself) and in a small, un-regarded corner, its own message board.

This was still a relatively novel concept. There had long been bulletin boards, squawking over dial-up modems, but they generally had