# How would the Corona epidemic been handled before the rise of the Internet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-the-corona-epidemic-been-handled-before-the-rise-of-the-internet/849699>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [March 18, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-the-corona-epidemic-been-handled-before-the-rise-of-the-internet/849699 "2020-03-18T01:58:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-the-corona-epidemic-been-handled-before-the-rise-of-the-internet/849699/1 "2020-03-18T01:58:27Z")

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I was curious how would the Corona epidemic been handled before the rise of the Internet? Say 30 years ago in 1990.

I mean today people can order just about anything online. Back then they did mail order businesses but if you didn’t know they existed you couldn’t order anything from them.

And social media has made easier for people to communicate with each other. Granted they still had phones back then but today you can share texts, photos, and videos with ease.

Anyone else have thoughts?

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**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-the-corona-epidemic-been-handled-before-the-rise-of-the-internet/849699/2 "2020-03-18T02:10:17Z")

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Pretty much the same, I’d wager. Rather than getting their news from social media, people would get it from, well, the news, and there still would have been a huge run on cleaning supplies & toilet paper. The medical community might have been better set up to handle a crisis than today under George the Elder.

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**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-the-corona-epidemic-been-handled-before-the-rise-of-the-internet/849699/3 "2020-03-18T02:17:06Z")

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In some ways, easier. Put the information on the main TV channels and on the radio. Just about everybody would get the same info.

People’s communications techniques are so splintered now that there’s no easy way to reach everybody.

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**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-the-corona-epidemic-been-handled-before-the-rise-of-the-internet/849699/4 "2020-03-18T02:50:34Z")

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> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> In some ways, easier. Put the information on the main TV channels and on the radio. Just about everybody would get the same info.
> 
> People’s communications techniques are so splintered now that there’s no easy way to reach everybody.

Not to mention that today’s Internet spreads _false_ information faster than ever and it can hard to decipher what is the truth and what is fiction.