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Or, conversely, there's a reporting and over-reporting bias at work today that previously didn't exist due to much smaller exposure to notions of perceived and

Or, conversely, there's a reporting and over-reporting bias at work today that previously didn't exist due to much smaller exposure to notions of perceived and real mental health disorders among (admittedly often suggestible) young people. "Community" is not only a generic term, it's also a somewhat ambiguously dangerous one that captures many very biased notions of a supposedly ideal community that have little to do with a healthy reality. Many people complain about a lack of community specifically because their own preferred idea of how it should be isn't what's popular. This hardly makes them reliable sources for arguments about its lack. Few things about today's world of easier communication and more easily than ever being able to find others who share your interests makes it especially hard for any given person of any age to find what they're comfortable calling a community for themselves. It's certainly easier than it was decades ago when you either had to physically go somewhere or make a serious effort of some kind to find wider communities you might like. Either that or settle for whatever sort of fit the bill in your home town. These things are much easier to avoid today.

goda90 2y ago
> Many people complain about a lack of community specifically because their own preferred idea of how it should be isn't what's popular. If someone has little positive face to face interaction with people outside their immediate family, I don't see how you could argue that's not a lack of community.
- southernplaces7 2y ago
  People can leave their home, people can travel. If digital media expose to the curious a given community of shared interests, you have more avenues than ever for discovering it, and making contact. I simply can't see how this is worse than not even being able to find such communities while stuck in your supposedly superior town/neighborhood community of the people who live around you.
  - goda90 2y ago
    Sure they CAN leave their homes, but they aren't. There is a lack of positive face to face interaction with people you can see often. We need more than text on an online forum. We need facial expressions, we need body language, we need smell and touch. We need people who can see that we're in a low spot because they see us all the time to know the difference. We need the chance to do the same for others as well. We need to interact with people who have different opinions and interests or are at different stages of life. We need to be told we're wrong and to see the impact on others when we screw up. So much of that just doesn't happen online.
tyleo 2y ago
IDK. Do you have data supporting this hypothesis?

goda90 2y ago

> Many people complain about a lack of community specifically because their own preferred idea of how it should be isn't what's popular. If someone has little positive face to face interaction with people outside their immediate family, I don't see how you could argue that's not a lack of community.

southernplaces7 2y ago
People can leave their home, people can travel. If digital media expose to the curious a given community of shared interests, you have more avenues than ever for discovering it, and making contact. I simply can't see how this is worse than not even being able to find such communities while stuck in your supposedly superior town/neighborhood community of the people who live around you.
- goda90 2y ago
  Sure they CAN leave their homes, but they aren't. There is a lack of positive face to face interaction with people you can see often. We need more than text on an online forum. We need facial expressions, we need body language, we need smell and touch. We need people who can see that we're in a low spot because they see us all the time to know the difference. We need the chance to do the same for others as well. We need to interact with people who have different opinions and interests or are at different stages of life. We need to be told we're wrong and to see the impact on others when we screw up. So much of that just doesn't happen online.

tyleo 2y ago

IDK. Do you have data supporting this hypothesis?