Probably posting this right as this thread is about to get removed but doesn't matter, just need a place to park this comment. And I think it's mental health related.
Kinda thinking of stepping away from this place until there's more of a crowd to disappear to. A lot of people talk about how it's nice to see familiar faces around and I definitely agree. But also, I feel a little exposed and stupid in a smaller crowd way too often as well. And that's not the crowd, that's a me problem.
But I wish it were a little bigger and a little busier here. I felt stupid and did less cringing at dumb shitposts when I was just another comment out of a couple hundred. One on one conversations felt easier when that conversation was just a thread in a busy post and not 90% of the post. And on a bigger and busier platform you can go through your highs and lows without feeling like you need to fake your own death and start over after a bad day.
So I'm in two minds about all of this right now. I do get a lot of joy from this place and a lot of people here. But small towns have their draw backs too.