> Tight bonds seem to arise over time when people are positive and supportive to one another's ideas, interests, needs, fears, and feelings.

It's not just this. I mean, I was on Reddit for years and I never got into the "community" feel of it, even in smaller subreddits. I both browsed/actively commented and lurked Reddit at various times; I'm down to mostly 'lurking' at this point due to quality problems/bad or repetitive commenting. (Novelty accounts. Kill me.)

I think part of it is that there is a small tight-knit "core" of users on the site. You see people's names again, and again, and again. Maybe early Reddit was like that, I wasn't on there early enough to know. Don't get me wrong I've been around for tons of Reddit "celebrities" and drama but there's a difference between a Reddit celebrity and someone on Hubski. On Hubski it's like you to get know real, genuine people that you see again and again. I don't know, I'd compare it to a bar (but then, I spend lots of time in bars), whereas Reddit always felt more like a big university. It was a college where, as in real life, I barely got to know most classmates (with classes as subreddits or threads) and I certainly didn't get to know my entire year, let alone the population of the university as a whole when it cycled in and out. On Hubski it feels I'm a regular at a favorite bar. I don't know everyone and I keep seeing new faces, but I still feel like I know half the bar. And half the bar knows me, and we can talk about stuff, or we can just share stuff on our iPhones or Droids that we think is cool over a drink or two, and then we talk about it, too. I have conversations. I have people that I keep an eye out for because hey, I like them, they're kind of cool. I'm having fun with this analogy.

There isn't a hivemind here but there are common interests and values - things like writing, creating, music, navel-gazing, you know, thought-provoking discussions.

I haven't met anyone on Hubski in person and doubt I could, most of the regular gang seems kind of centrally located in the middle of the country, and I'm on the edge. Theoretically I think humanodon and I could have a Hubski meet-up of 2 if we were both willing to drive some hours towards each other. Course, I don't know where all you buggers are.

That's cool, though. It took me a really long time to get used to the community, what with my Reddit experience I had never really valued getting to know people on communities online. They were on the Internet. They weren't real. I didn't know them.

Here, I get to know people. And people get to know me.

Of course I do feel really sappy and troll-inviting with my little declaration of love, here, guys.