A huge userbase like reddit’s is both a pro and a con. The big advantages include diversity of content (especially niche/hobby stuff), more content, and higher frequency of new content overall.
But it comes with some pretty big disadvantages, too. Moderation is difficult so they are happy to let a small number of “power mods” run everything. Subs that were fun & interesting in the past…after they hit the front page and become popular they go downhill quickly. Divisive USA-centric politics.
And of course the “asshole filter” effect: where the assholes drive away the non-assholes, so the concentration of assholes is always going up.
A lot of people don’t work (retired, married a bread winner, or students living off mom and dad).
And there are of course telecommuting jobs now.
And even rural areas have doctors, dentists, plumbers, electricians, gas stations, delivery services, daycare, schools, libraries, churches, post offices, and countless other “invisible” employers that are easy to forget about when you live in a metropolitan city with dozens or hundreds of major corporate employers.
My spouse and I talk about this often. A very obvious example is how rude (and recklessly dangerous) people are while driving. And myriad minor things out in public in general. No sense of community and a complete lack of consideration for others is the new normal. It got worse during and after the pandemic.
Volunteering is always good. Meals on Wheels. Habitat for Humanity. See if the local library system has organized public events. Same for parks. You could take a continuing education class, too. Cooking, art, personal finance.
OK following up on my own comment here. I decided to use a masked email and am giving kbin a try. (I forgot I had a seldom-used email provider that makes masked emails easy).
kbin is attractive to me…except an email address is required to register. I know that’s a common thing on a lot of sites, but it’s not info I want to provide, and setting up a burner email is kind of a nuisance.
As an older guy with a 35+ year career I’ve had a number of bosses younger than me. If you don’t make it weird, I won’t make it weird. It’s no big deal. A lot of workplace authority is arbitrary / accidental anyway. Or just favoritism. Best to keep your head down and not let it bother you.
Diabetes Type II: You can lose your feet. You can go blind. The risk of cancer, stroke, and heart disease go way up. You can get kidney failure. There’s more, but it’s a long list of shit that can go wrong. You don’t want it.
I think the numbers may work in your favor the other way. The coolest / funnest / most interesting people I know have minimal or no social media presence. There are fewer of them, sure, but a much higher percentage of them are cool people vs the mindless drones who see everything in life as a photo op which they can post on their curated online persona’s webpages.
Yup, there’s a lot of hurrrr hurrrr hurrr stuff on reddit. Which isn’t inherently bad…but they often just keep pushing it ad nauseum. There’s no such concept as “OK, enough already” on there.