Older people ignore the comment sections in their factorization. I think this can be fair but also isn’t necessarily when we consider things like livestreams on twitch and youtube, where you will have actual communities form on the platform itself, who communicate and form friendships and relationships. Unlike message boards and forums typically have, there is a “main character” if you will, but I don’t think that makes it asocial.

There’s also the participatory, communicative environment people feel even as smaller creators. It’s not like film and TV where you need an entire network and brand backing you, and as such it’s pretty democratized to be a social outlet for people.