A bulletin board system or BBS is a computer system running software that allows users to connect to the system, typically over an analog phone line, to perform various social and recreational tasks, and communicate with others on the system. Using a terminal program, remote users can perform functions such as downloading software and data, uploading data, playing games, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users. During their heyday (from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s), many BBSes were run as a hobby free of charge by the "SysOp" (system operator), while other BBSes charged their users a subscription fee for access.

In current usage (primarily in Taiwan, Japan and China) the term BBS may be used to refer to any online forum or message board. See Internet forum.

Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web and other aspects of the Internet. BBSes were a highly social phenomenon and were used for meeting people and having discussions in message boards as well as for publishing articles, downloading software, playing games and many more things using a single application.

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NPR Topics: Technology

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L.A. Times - Technology News

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