I see a big difference in sharing stuff on social media sites where my friends and family, maybe coworkers see it and sharing stuff in online communities like H

I see a big difference in sharing stuff on social media sites where my friends and family, maybe coworkers see it and sharing stuff in online communities like HN, reddit, etc. I am commenting here and in other online communities, because the people there perceive me based on a specific interest. I'm not sharing a cute picture of my cat on hackernews, because the only thing I know about the people here is that they are generally interested in technology and technology adjacent topics. This is what I come here to discuss with them. This is different from my personal connections. I don't think of my friends as a list of interests, I think of them as a nuanced person with fears and desires and all those other things that make them who they are. Of course I'm happy to build connections in online communities, but there's a very clear point where the connection transforms from being centered around the shared interest of the online community into a connection centered around the lifes of two people. And some of those people might be very interested in that cat picture. But (and we might just differ here a lot) I have not once thought that more than a few people might be interested in a specific thing, let alone dozens(?). Do I know more than a few people interested in the same general topic? Sure. But just because I know 4 people who are interested in outdoor camping doesn't mean that all of them are interested in an article about new ultra-lightweight rain jackets made possible by a fancy compound-material. I don't think that forgetting to include people is inevitable. I have never felt that I forgot someone, because I only share 1:1 and I only do it when person x pops into my head regarding the thing I'm actively doing in that moment. Even if more than a few were actually interested in that article, I can't have an in depth conversation with all of them about it. I could have a shallow conversation with all of them, but then it's JUST about the article, not about the people I'm sharing it with. And then what's the point if it's not really about the people anymore? So I do see a lot of value in interest specific online communities, but I do not see how sharing on social media to people, with whom I already have a personal connection beyond a specific interest with, provides a value that 1:1 sharing does not.