• When bowling leagues were more popular, not everyone who joined did so because they loved bowling; many of them joined because that’s where their friends were:

Being together is what mattered. The venue did not.

• We’re online to connect with others, and the venue where that happens doesn’t matter as much as the connections themselves.
• This is important because, as the the dark forest of the internet gets darker, the less influence we have over the mainstream internet, which will continue to become more powerful.
• As Strickler says, “What kind of bowling alley it is depends on who goes there,” and so we should continue being active in shaping the direction of these platforms — because, if we don’t, worse actors will.
• 2026-07-30 this is the network effect.