There's definitely an old internet culture that eschews social media and it has seemed to grow (again) over the years. One example is Freenode:
- The network has some moderation, but bans are last resorts where on social media bans and temporary bans are part of the process.
- Much of the moderation is left to channel operators and guides are given by the network on how to moderate.
- Much of the network is apolitical and you can even be banned for talking about politics in many channels. This runs counter to pop-culture with encourages not only discussing politics but airing your politics with known dissidents.
- Nearly every channel is topic focused, where pop-culture and social media encourage broad, boundaryless discussion.
- Pseudoanonymity is still an option; in contrast to real identity policies in social media.
You can't tell me that's not culture, but maybe it's not a whole culture just yet. That said, keep poking the bear cub and see if it doesn't grow up.
You just described the internet I've been using for almost 30 years, split across various online forums, including this one. Couldn't agree more. I've managed to find a good handful of very high signal to noise Reddit topics too. G+ was good while it lasted.
The trick is to have specific interests you care about and track down that community. They're out there. The encouraging thing is my kinds have found their own communities online and among friends without my help. They use Discord, Twitch, a bit of instagram and such. They're tech savvy geeks though, if somewhat differently geeky to myself. They know what they're interested in and look for that because most of mass culture is just occasionally amusing background noise to them. I'm very encouraged.
I often see people bemoaning the passing of the old internet, but for me it's all still out there and thriving. Several new layers of it have developed too. It's just not the only, or 'biggest' internet anymore.
It is still out there, you just have to work to attain it.
I'm happy to listen to the bemoaning, mainly because the newest and largest groups on the internet are the most problematic and most of them have no self-awareness to that end. Better that they hear the bemoaning and get a chance to change and choose not to.
- The network has some moderation, but bans are last resorts where on social media bans and temporary bans are part of the process.
- Much of the moderation is left to channel operators and guides are given by the network on how to moderate.
- Much of the network is apolitical and you can even be banned for talking about politics in many channels. This runs counter to pop-culture with encourages not only discussing politics but airing your politics with known dissidents.
- Nearly every channel is topic focused, where pop-culture and social media encourage broad, boundaryless discussion.
- Pseudoanonymity is still an option; in contrast to real identity policies in social media.
You can't tell me that's not culture, but maybe it's not a whole culture just yet. That said, keep poking the bear cub and see if it doesn't grow up.