Comment by zmix

I don't think Usenet failed. It declined. It was a platform for "first hour" internet users, the early "internet natives", mostly nerds, like us.

When the masses appeared on the "intarwebs" the web would be the place to go, with all it's flashy hypermedia and uniform way of use (no separate client needed, same philosophy, etc.)

The Usenet simply got replaced by web forums.