Emphasis on "the old". Usenet in the early to mid 90s was pretty great too, but again, emphasis on "the old". Niches that haven't been discovered by many people yet will likely always function well.
>>PaulDa+(OP)
Well, they were shut down in 2017. But they seemed to be about the same quality at the end as they were earlier on. The boards I frequent that haven't closed are still going strong with light moderation, however. Actually, I'd argue that the quality might even be better now than a couple decades ago.