Some forums have always been famously nasty places. For those of us old enough to remember the internet pre-2010, and lucky enough to stumble on the right corners of the internet, plenty of forums were actually super cool, tiny, self-moderated niche communities with like 20-30 active users tops where you could genuinely share passions and make friends. All but one of my good online friends I have now were made back then.

No idea how anyone would find many nice interactions now. Hexbear is as close as it gets for me, but it’s still significantly different.