BBS

1. Short for Bulletin Board System, a BBS is a small computer network that a user connects to by dialing into it. Bulletin Board Systems allow multiple users to talk with each other, share software and information, play games, and much more. Most Bulletin Board Systems were free; however, may have required a subscription for extended use or additional features.
   
   Bulletin Board Systems were very popular before the wide use of the Internet, and although they are still used, most users today connect to the Internet to share files and information, chat, and perform other tasks that they may have done though a BBS.
2. Shorthand for Be Back Shortly, BBS is used in text-based communication such as chat. Below is an example of how this would be used.

User1: That's pretty funny.
User2: Heh yeah, BBS.
User1: Ok.
<User2 logs off>
<User2 comes back on later>
User2: Ok I'm back.
User1: WB
User2: Thx

Also see: BBIAB, Bulletin board, Chat definitions, Modem definitions, WB