Unfortunately, this happens in all kinds of communities, physical and digital. A place is hip because creative types concentrate there, contribute to each other

Unfortunately, this happens in all kinds of communities, physical and digital. A place is hip because creative types concentrate there, contribute to each other, pushing each other's boundaries to create new things. Consumers notice these new things, come in to consume, but make no effort to contribute back to the community. The creatives eventually move on either because they've become unwelcome or realize they have not much new to learn, and the consumers are left behind wondering why their community doesn't feel hip any more. I never try to take for granted when I'm involved in artists' spaces, FOSS projects, hacker spaces, etc. The point is to continue a cycle of learning and contributing back, not consume until all the resources are sucked dry...