I would like to say it was a lot more fun, but that would make it seem like it's not fun now. When I joined it seemed like there was a lot more activity going on - everyone seemed to know everyone, and it wasn't really hard to fit in. The member pictures gallery wasn't being bombarded with 20 pictures a day, and... basically the community was smaller, and more close, I feel? Now I get the feeling that a lot of younger users have "invaded", and ties aren't as tight - but that could be due to the fact that I don't spend as much time foruming as I used to, now that I'm in college.
Still, there were a lot of frauds back then. A lot of people who claimed to exist but didn't, really. A lot of stolen photos. I'd rather not mention names.