You just reminded me of The Well. I had the notion their membership was limited, like a country club or fraternity or something, to a fixed number. To join, so

You just reminded me of The Well. I had the notion their membership was limited, like a country club or fraternity or something, to a fixed number. To join, someone else had to first leave. I can't now confirm this, so I probably misremembered. Regardless, I've always liked this idea. Wiki claims a distinction between virtual communities and social medias. The Well, MetaFilter, Ravelry and others have membership fees. Some have verified identities. Those frictions would certainly deter most dysfunction, antisocial behaviors now plaguing social medias. I think curated social media is mostly fruitless. Having done a lot of online moderation, I honestly don't know how u/dang and others pull it off. Culture and civility is much easier with preventative measures, like verified identity.