It's cool that people are still building communities outside of a few giant social media sites, but I have no idea how I'd go looking for ones for me, especially as AI spam makes search engines decreasingly helpful over time.
Though "place where I feel like I fit" isn't really something I can put into words and search for in the first place. And chances are those kinds of places won't necessarily be public.
It happens on and off, but it's been getting to me especially strongly lately that I haven't been able to find any groups where I can engage in my biggest interests.
And with the way the internet keeps changing and getting more closed off over time it feels like I'm either running out of time or it's too late already.
@NovaSquirrel Have you checked out the Tildeverse? A lot of instances focused on specific subjects/interests, and they all mostly intercommunicate via IRC and NNTP. tilde.town is one I have personal experience with, but there are dozens of others.
@tatiana tilde.town seemed dead the last time I checked it out, and it didn't seem to be particularly furry. I'm primarily looking for other furries who make cute characters and worlds and who roleplay.
@NovaSquirrel It's not dead, just very little happens on port 80. It's very furry-friendly, but definitely not a really furry-heavy place. I don't think the Tildeverse IRC even has a furry channel. :/
@NovaSquirrel I get the same feeling. I really prefer small groups or PMs/DMs/whatever, but the only places I feel like I can find those sorts of social places are Discord, Telegram, and Matrix. Each has its own problems, and even then, many social groups simply aren't searchable unless you already know people in them.