I just learned there is a term for a social phenomenon called Eternal September.
It apparently refers to a situation where a group or subculture is inundated with new members. The new members enter too quickly for the old members to impose or educate them on existing rules/customs/etc.
The result is that the number of new members quickly exceeds the number of old members and the old rules/customs/etc fade or are forced out in favor of rules/customs/etc created by new members.
@WhiteClaw It was initially coined when Usenet access was bundled with broadband cable internet access (which was just being widely rolled out.) Previously, new college students only got Usenet when their school year started, giving a temporary set of the same conditions, but as the new users learned and assimilated into the community, the mistakes, gaffes, and social violations went away.
But when broadband went mainstream, That September period never came to an end.
@Mycroft @WhiteClaw That's probably more likely. I apologize for the misinformation! I knew it was around then but got the service provider wrong. My bad.
@kelseyhusky @WhiteClaw I just remember it better because I was there near that time. :)
... as an AOLer... >.>
@Mycroft @WhiteClaw We all gotta start somewhere, right?
@kelseyhusky @WhiteClaw Broadband? I knew it as America On-Line, in 1993. http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/S/September-that-never-ended.html