It’s hard to articulate the third-placean appeal of topic-based internet communities for those who’ve never been in one. At least with a pottery class or networking event, you can say you’re there to make a vase or collect some business cards: tangible out-comes even if you’re also searching for intangible community. But for their online versions, the pretexts wear thinner: Why spend so much time talking to strangers about The X-Files or wine tasting when you could be actually watching the show or drinking the wine? The social benefits are invisible to people who don’t need them.
