They were and they are the original social media. I've found more acquaintances and friends (and even more) on various online forums and chats than on what peo

They were and they are the original social media. I've found more acquaintances and friends (and even more) on various online forums and chats than on what people call "social networks" those days. "Social" is about interpersonal communications. Ads and tracking are - arguably - irrelevant implementation details, not some inherent property of "social networking". User engagement is (and good communities always have it), but artificially trying to boost with ethically questionable profiling technologies and various dark patterns isn't.