tbh I think open internet forums are just dead. It was fun while it lasted but the reason it was good is because of the gatekeeping conditions (not to say that the gatekeeping didn't push away valuable contributors) that kept the internet forums hard to access.

GCs, blogs, and small chatrooms are the way.

already on HN I am seeing a lot of generated or AI assisted comments. on Reddit, sometimes I will engage in a debate then it gets drawn out and I realize I am talking to a bot.

perhaps the biggest hit is the trust, now people will just jump to conclusion and say your comment is AI and overall the presence that I used to feel from before the AI days is not there.

its no longer rewarding and ironically i've started to engage a lot less and seek human connections outside so perhaps there is an upside.

I also see a lot of people cutting back on instagram and social media use. AI appears to be slowly driving people off the internet and towards analog real human connection but its very subtle and too little to celebrate