In 2009, researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh estimated that a shopper emits 24 times more carbon dioxide if she drives 12.8 miles to buy a single item than if she orders it online.
Were I to ever try to build an online community again, I wouldn’t launch the community until I already had one. I’d write, and gain followers, and then set up the infrastructure to enable them to communicate with each other.