CODEXCard 9 of 9 · Modern Internet Patterns
Eternal September
New arrivals never absorb the previous culture.
Eternal September refers to a community losing its shared culture because new members arrive faster than they can be absorbed. The phrase comes from Usenet, an early network of discussion groups. Each September, a fresh wave of university students went online, made beginner mistakes and gradually learned the local etiquette. By the end of the autumn, things settled down.
In 1993, America Online opened Usenet access to its large and growing user base, and the influx never stopped. Longtime users began calling it the September that never ended. The underlying idea is about the pace of learning. Norms are taught through repeated contact with experienced members. When newcomers outnumber those members, there is no one left to teach the old norms, and the culture becomes whatever the latest arrivals bring.
The limit is using this idea to justify excluding newcomers. Every community started with new people, and fresh members bring energy and ideas. The healthier lesson is to make norms easier to learn: clear guidelines, welcome threads, mentors and visible examples of good behaviour. Growth becomes a problem only when nobody is passing on how things work.
This pattern applies well beyond the internet, to fast-growing companies, clubs and cities where culture has to be taught on purpose.
Example
A small hiking group on a messaging app is suddenly joined by two hundred people after a local news mention. Within a week, the chat fills with off-topic posts and repeated questions. The organisers pin a short guide, start a separate welcome thread and ask regulars to greet new members, and the group gradually finds its footing again.
Try it this week
If you run or belong to a group, write or update a short guide for newcomers this week explaining how things work.
From Modern Internet Patterns (Internet Theory).
