BBS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Unknown Space BBS, the space institute of
the Chinese Academy of Sciences
system among the chinese community in
the US and North America. Thousands of chinese visiting students and scholars logon each day, where they talk about literally everything:
travel experiences, schientific research, fashion, history, politics, etc.
1 History
The history of MITBBS goes all the way back to the old days in the mid 1990's, when a few Internet pioneers
from Peking University , Tsinghua University , and the Chinese Academy of Sciences
set up a few BBS systems. The users then were mostly
college students, maybe a few professors too. The Peking University Unknown BBS was one of the most famous systems back then.
As more and more students and young scholars began using these BBS systems to communicate and publish their ideas,
the authorities became more and more concerned because of some of the liberal
discussions on these bulletin boards. As a result, many of them were shutdown, among which was the Unknown BBS from
Peking Univesrity. Later, the Unknown BBS was reopened as "The Space BBS" using a server from the space institute of
the Chinese Academy of Sciences . The new system, however, did not last long before it was shutdown again.
In 1996, a psychology graduate from Peking University joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology .
He was one of the few people who created and managed the Space BBS and the Unknown BBS systems.
Movitivated by the strong feeling that the chinese community lacked a convenient communication platform, he set up a
shabby server in his MIT lab, restored the data from the Space BBS system. Since the new system was a
descendent of the Unknown BBS and the Space BBS, he named it the "Unknown Space BBS".
That was the very beginning of the popular MITBBS. Since then, many talented organizers and engineers joined the management
team, and it became more and more popular among the chinese community overseas. Today, you can get almost any information
related to your overseas life. To some people, this BBS system has become part of their everyday life.
2 Pros and Cons
Maybe this is true to all famous stuff: many people love it, and many, if not more, hate it.
People love MITBBS because it is a good place to communicate. Got questions about choosing professors?
Post it in the overseas board and get answers from thousands of visiting students, many of whom might have had similar experiences.
Got a new dress and feel so exited about it? Post it in the fashion board and share it with the girls who love fashion as much as you do.
Outraged by the softies in the current chinese goverment? Share your ideas in the chinese news board and find out who might
think the same way as you do.
Perhaps the single most important issue with the MITBBS is its cenralized management architecture. Many users complain that
there was little democracy in the management of this virtual community. Another issue that draws more and more concern
is the recent commercialization efforts from the management team. Like it or not, this BBS is going that way,
and there seems to be no way back.
3 Tips
If you registered a new account, but do not see the confirmation email, take a look at your spam box. Some email systems think these kind of emails are spam.
Where are all those Chinese girls?
Good old days....
