[jltsiren]

Internet in the 90s taught me that I have more in common with like-minded people around the world than with the people I meet in daily life. But then ads became the primary business model for online communities, and the need to drive engagement turned most of them toxic.

And then I moved to one of the least affordable areas in the US, which is also a college town and a tourist destination and has huge issues with homelessness and property crime. Here you don't have to use social media anymore. If you want conflict, you can just talk to your neighbors about local issues. Your financial interests and ideas about the future of the community are guaranteed to be in conflict with many of them.