I get a little sad when people see hubski as a snobby place full of high functioning elitists -- or whatever the current complaint was. When you look at threads like this one, I think we seem so varied, but open-hearted and hopeful. I find the spirit of this thread very moving. Anyway: moving forward on postcards, workouts, and family commitments. Not so good on getting work done. So I'm going to do some now.
I think it's the reoccurring threads like Pubski, Recent music, Grubski, etc. that help humanise and amalgamate everyone, filling in the blanks that are often left with online communities. Maybe on seeing the tight-knit, 'chummy' community mixed with generally more left-field content creates a risk of new users perceiving this as some sort of positive-feedback loop. Unfortunately this is because the latter is likely more common on the internet that a genuine place of openness and acceptance.
nicely put. I have been noticing some new users putting out feelers feelers in the feeling post. Posts like this and the others you mentioned are fairly non-threatening and fun ways to participate.