- 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 [[{2.4b} the dark forest theory of the internet|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.