We have to deromanticize community. It's not some pristine untouched forest of soft moss and good vibes. The corporations count on that misconception to stripmine us for content.
Community has always been as weird and messy as humans are. It's work. It's relationships. It's hard. There isn't a magic number. They aren't inherently anticommercial. They don't all look or act the same.
That's one of the reasons I wrote this and am driven to write more: https://powazek.com/posts/3571
@fraying Really glad to see more embracing the "Fediverse is a bar" idea. I've seen a few people articulate this before but I think this is perhaps the most fully fleshed out piece I've read. I also really appreciate that you mentioned the money part of the analogy.
