> Sure, my point wasn't that they don't exist, but that it's a sad clinging. That's like...just your opinion, man. :) > In my book it does. For one it makes i

> Sure, my point wasn't that they don't exist, but that it's a sad clinging. That's like...just your opinion, man. :) > In my book it does. For one it makes it exclusionary. And what when you lose interest in the "frivolous interest" later? You lose the friends or alienate some of them? That's not much of a community then to begin with. That isn't what happens, though. They are still your friends, you can still do other things with them! Maybe you met someone at a board game convention, both over the years you stopped playing games (hey, life happens) - doesn't mean you can't or don't meet up with them for dinner, a music event, or... > Shouldn't I rather ask this question to you? After all, you're the one who accepts a community that's gatekeeping based on an interest! Aha! Here is the issue. The communities form around those interests, but there's nothing saying you can't join the community without having a heavy interest in it. Probably having some sort of passing interest is how you find out about the community in the first place, but it isn't a requirement. It feels to me that you're making a big assumption about a lot of communities that you've never personally interacted with.