Communities can ensure they stay niche and engaged by creating friction to join. Access to Bilibili communities is difficult to achieve. Users need to pass a 100-question multiple choice test within 60 minutes.

Communities are becoming stronger because technology is doing a better job directing us to people with shared identities and shared interests. On Facebook, we needed our real-world friend graphs to form the foundation for our feeds. TikTok doesn’t need to know our friends; its algorithm quickly hones in on what content and which creators will most... See more

I love the internet: it connects people. And while the internet has connected people for a quarter-century, I’ve been noticing a growing emphasis on community. The internet is moving from consumption to interaction; internet users are moving from passive to active.