PLATO, the computer-based education system begun at the University of Illinois in the early 1960s, is remembered as much for its social features as for its coursework. The University of Illinois Distributed Museum credits the project with “a thriving online community which predated today’s social media by decades.” Features first built or popularized on PLATO terminals included message boards, online testing, email, chat, screen sharing, and multiplayer games - capabilities that would not reach the general public until the spread of the internet many years later. The system also pioneered plasma flat-panel displays and interactive touch screens.