At the start, the first atomic network for Usenet was at Duke University, where creators Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott were based. Then nearby University of North Carolina was added, followed by institutions like Bell Labs, Reed College, and University of Oklahoma. Because many of the early organizations on the network were universities, every September a new cohort of students would join Usenet as they started school. Over the ensuing months, they would learn the social norms, jargon, and culture, and then integrate into the community, or otherwise quit as people flamed them for not practicing
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