[OJFord]

> dressing up garnishes respect based on how elaborate and how much work went into it.

That sounds very much like a 'within the community' sort of thing.

Isn't it just that the internet's made it easier for groups with (varying degrees, of course, of) niche interests to congregate?

[playpause]

I think it’s a bit of both. The internet has also made the niche groups more visible, probably making them grow in confidence/appeal/numbers. So people don’t need to worry as much about being labelled weird by association. Being labelled too basic/boring is also probably more of a concern than before, so the social pressures are aligning more and more with taking part in niche interests, or at least not being seen as scornful of them. I don’t have any numbers to back this up but that’s how it seems to me. Compared to a few years ago anyway.