[jonmb]

Forums are still a thing. Maybe not as much as they used to be, but the communities are out there. I've met several people from IGN's forum. And I've heard of many meetups in subreddits.

I agree with you though. The Internet is not "special" like it used to be when it was new. Now it's just another normal everyday thing, like the radio and TV... And full of ads.

[mozumder]

Better than forums for real-life socializing are mailing lists..

[AstralStorm]

Not really. They either tend to overflow and turn into a mess or stay very topical.