AOL

From Interdex, the community-edited guide to the local internet.

Archaic internet access provider, originally prominent when dialup was still the only thing available. AOL (America OnLine) is notable because it is the primitive version of what the internet has more or less become today: a cyber soapbox for whiney teenagers and ugly people who can't make friends in the real world. Before AOL, internet discussions (by newslists or BBS) were relatively free from the immense bullshit which has clouded it in recent years. But when Mommy and Daddy get AOL, suddenly, America was Online, and the internet was lost.