It's harder today to be part of a genuine online community than it was in the past. It's harder than ever to find genuine discourse with the patience and focus to improve ones thinking and pragmatism. The general vibe of the world is disengaged as a result of being sucked dry of "engagement". We're so burned out on performative or even deceptive communications online that we're checked out mostly looking for cheap dopamine a hits. If I look back it wasn't always like this.
Back in the early 2000's a nerdy young man finding others with similar interests seemed impossible where I was at in suburban central florida. Where I lived wasn't exactly a tech haven so I was far more likely to find companionship around baseball or mudding than I was around programming languages or video game modding.
I eventually discovered online forums participating in the early Blender Artist and Ubuntu forums perusing basic tutorials and guides. These were fantastic fountains of information. They were full of conflicts, jokes, and custom signatures. What a great place to be on the internet. I hadn't hit the level of confidence or discipline to have full participation but I can remember the vibe and feeling of these forums.
Then came MySpace, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Digg, and many of the other content platforms that still dominate and exist today. Centralized, easy signups, they're inventing new UX, and most importantly everyone is online and there's a constant stream of information.
We're far from a post social media society if anything we're in the latest evolution of furthering the trend of shorter dopamine cycles, more intense tracking. We've identified the risk of polarization, echo chambers, and the impact of social media on young people and their insecurities. Companies after facing criticism, go and "fix" their algorithms sprinkling dissenting views in feeds. It doesn't seem to have helped our polarization issues. Perhaps they have been exacerbated by making people aware of dissenting views without giving them an adequate way of bridging that gap.
Now enters an infinitely agreeable solution. Why talk to others who have conflicting interests and beliefs as yourself when you can speak directly with an algorithm and get an answer to all your needs. It seems that we've shortened the dopamine loop further. You no longer need to wait for the Internet stranger to respond, you can get an instant dopamine hit. An instant reply. AI steering and bias has led us even further towards a problem that I see in my own life which is a lack of genuine engagement with my peers.
First. There's a need for not feeling alone. We had this figured out way before the Internet. Pick the phone up and try having a video or phone call with someone. I've typically found people far more receptive to this than you think. Who calls just to chat anymore? It's a great way of showing the very closest people in your life that you have and prioritize time for them. That idle chit chat and check ins are a priority for you and therefor they are a priority for you.
Second. There's a need for information sharing and discussion. I think I really started to hone in on this need when I joined Reddit and leveraged professional communities to allow me to grow in a field that I otherwise couldn't have broached without a technical degree. I learned a lot about the variety of sub interests and felt the shared effort of these communities to foster belonging and share memes around their culture to be really unique. Ultimately the business needs of reddit led to the shedding of a lot of that culture and care.
Personally I have used Discord and Matrix groups to fulfill this need but they almost require as much time as texting or calling and they're not very well equipped for community scale communication.
In an effort to return to what worked for me in the early 2000s I'm cultivating a privately moderated Discourse group with people I have met in person. It's still very early on but I'm hoping to grow the type of long form discussion and group collaboration I've been craving. I will do my best to blog about it when I have enough experience to write something meaningful.
Third. Sometimes you want to write to anyone and everyone interested in listening to your voice. I think the Internet was particularly well made for this in the first place. Own your own site, your own domain, dictate your own styling and simplicity or capability. Write for the sake of expressing yourself, for sharing for the sake of sharing, not because you have ad revenue targets or engagement metrics. Not because of performative marketing for career or status. Because some strange mind to you may stumble upon your space and for a moment glimpse a piece of you.
Dear strange mind I appreciate your time and would be interested in a piece of yours. Go forth and be witnessed.