> Is Reddit a village? [...] it’s still mostly just a bunch of strangers talking with each other for a while "Online community" and social media are in some wa

> Is Reddit a village? [...] it’s still mostly just a bunch of strangers talking with each other for a while "Online community" and social media are in some way social, to the extent that there is communication, something that defines humanity and that humans enjoy doing. It just isn't high-value communication in most instances. Much of it is short affirmations and expressions of good will. Our species survived through social grouping. A real village (or even larger community in meatspace) is an anchor for social trust. A real village differs significantly from online community in the simple fact that in reality, people are in a group for the survival benefits that the group offers. People will avoid talking nonsense or uttering threats because there are reputational and/or legal consequences that could deprive these people of group benefits. People will nuture their absurd opinions and resentments, but they tend to suppress expressing these because membership in the group is more valuable than their opinions and resentments. People do unleash their resentments and talk garbage on the Internet. In a real village, talking garbage will have consequences. In most cases, people in a real village understand to be careful in how they express themselves. In the days of the "old Web", people extended their "real village" values in the interactions on the Internet. In a real village, the way for people to feel confident about their resentments is to try to find a group where they can feel impunity. This is harder to do in a real village than it is on the Internet. One or two generations later on the Internet, with full penetration by marketing, ranking, and malicious participants (sometimes even at the scale of state-sponsored propaganda), the strong foundation of social trust is gone. All that remains is "enshitification" and Harlow monkeys[1]. Now, in an ironic twist, real communities are shaken by the artifical world of the Internet, and some people aspire to make the Internet be community in a way that it can never be. It has however been successfully monetised. [1] _ https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/harlows-classic-studies-revealed-the-importance-of-maternal-contact.html https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/o...