I was part of an Internet based, but highly topical, forum. The experience was somewhat similar. Clumpy and fairly self-selecting. Some people did meet, out-

I was part of an Internet based, but highly topical, forum. The experience was somewhat similar. Clumpy and fairly self-selecting. Some people did meet, out-of-band and/or in real life. But the nature of the community, and the worldwide physical dispersal, kept this rather limited. Actually, while the forum had a very specific topic of focus, people there got to know each other rather more generally. It's the one place where I wore an avatar. One of the cartoon character defaults. The anonymity and strong community ethic of respect for privacy actually facilitated communication. I find the "real name" initiatives ("now with photos") trending to the same sort of superficiality I run into "in real life". "Brogramming" and a lot of the rest of the "current trends" also come to mind. I think some of us are going to continue to look for those more intimate, even while more anonymous, communities. HN used to be (more than) a bit that way, before it exploded. (Where, too, people chose to reveal themselves to others, but on an opt-in basis.)