@Ralizah "The internet" was just fine when it was a bunch of tech geeks on BBS, IRC, etc. AOL was always a cesspool of ignorant idiots and bullies. Modern "social media" made the AOL format "the internet." It's telling that half the founding figures of Facebook have sworn off social media almost violently as a destructive force, and regret their involvement in it and use their time to warn others away from it.
Most "forums" such as this tend to work out a lot better (and are generally old school) than "social" (which are based on network effects) formats do.