Niche Communities Can Change Lives

The best thing the Internet every did was make us feel less alone.

March 03, 2025

Reddit is my favorite social media platform (here’s a piece I wrote about that, including favorite obscure Reddit boards sourced from this community).

One of my favorite things to do is follow rabbit holes into new Reddit communities, and then sort by Top / All Time to see what some of the most popular posts are in each community.

Using that method, I found this post from the community r/StopDrinking. In it, the poster is sharing a sentencing update on a recent court case and says:

“….my lawyer even used the fact that I get daily support from Reddit while he was explaining all the steps I've taken to stop drinking. My lawyer, and the judge were impressed. They both agreed that SD [r/StopDrinking] is a useful tool and admitted they've never seen anyone use Reddit in court in the list of accomplishments towards being sober.”

It’s so easy to dismiss anonymous communities and even social media in general as “all bad.” But if you find the right places on the internet to post or even just to lurk - they can do the most powerful thing of all: make you feel less alone.

-Molly Beck