Videos

There are definitely lots of people who found their tightest group of friends in the fandom, true. idk, it can go both ways, maybe people who are lonely irl (like queer or ND folks, or people with anxiety) are more likely to join internet-based fandoms. There are the scary humps that you mention, but (at least in my case) it feels a lot less demanding than irl interactions because I can step back whenever I want, it's usually a lot slower than irl conversations, and I get to observe before joining a conversation. That makes being active on pawb a lot easier than, say, joining a club irl, even though writing comments with substance is still a little scary.