How to mitigate loneliness with internet?

Hihi

Has anyone had any success in mitigating/combating loneliness with online communities or friends?

I am stuck in an awful part of the US where community was already nonexistent, now with covid doing any actual activity with other people in public is not an option.

In the past this has sent me into severe depressive spirals and, while it isn't that bad currently, it is something i'd like to change.

but it seems like most people have migrated to reddit (which i dont like), discord (which i dont really get), and maybe a few random forums on the internet (which i dont know about).

So like is this doable/feasible? or is there no realistic option besides finding a coping mechanism?

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unironically video games. the shit we talk about
s is just a reflection of society, you can find wholesome spaces too and if people are playing pickup co-op or team modes that's your in.

There's Matrix and other group-chat-like software where you can hang out with people and build community. There's a Tracha matrix channel that's popular with people here. If you're interested in privacy stuff, there's lots of SimpleX chats about it.
and tbh if you really want community, you might want to get into Discord. For all of its (many) flaws, it seems a lot like what you're looking for.
- Not sure if i'm allowed in hexbear trans spaces, i know the em poc, menby, and womenby comms had guidelines for who can participate in them
  Yea I kind of figured the answer is just discord and i guess you either regularly talk in it or just luck out and make friends? I dont know how to really "enter" them but i guess that's also kind of just a social thing anyway.
  
  ~~There's no trans requirement in the list of tracha rules, but you might want to be mindful of how you act there.~~ This is wrong, it is trans only. We might have a non-trans Matrix chat too, but I'm not in it, and not sure where to find it. If you ever end up becoming a moderator of a community on Hexbear, there's a few Matrix chats we all talk in.
  If I remember right, the last survey showed the majority of Hexbears are trans, so tracha almost acts like a general chat.

I have a facebook account that I use purely for Marketplace and Still Coviding groups. Idk how people use the site for anything else, the algorithm is atrocious. Try search for Still Coviding + your state, maybe even your locale if you're near a big metropolitan area.
My FB Still Coviding Group has a handful of people organizing events both offline and on. We've also got a discord with people that do like game nights and things.
Same for reddit tbh, but I have an account that's 90% for Long Covid socializing, 10% piracy related stuff. I don't use reddit for anything else, and I can't say this completely insulates me from the reddit brainworms, but most of the covid related subreddits are reasonably decent... most of the time.
There's an apps for covid conscious folks, I don't use it yet so I can't speak anything to it. https://www.refreshconnections.com/
Also, it looks like someone is trying to make a forum for Covid Conscious folks, but no one is showing up unfortunately. Might be worth helping them. https://covidsafehotties.boards.net/
I'd also recommend checking out local Mutual Aid groups, sometimes you get lucky and find one that requires Masking. Especially if they're centered around Disability Rights, but it may be worth your while to seek out a group to volunteer with that's specifically focused on Disability Rights, they may not be leftists, but they'll at least understand the Eugenic is bad and you can work from there.
https://linktr.ee/pandemicpals - These folks run an online covid conscious social meeting every Saturday. I haven't attended yet, but I've been seeing their posts for a while now.
Wish I could offer more, but we're few and far between. I'd recommend finding outdoor activities you can get involved with in your area. I'm in florida so a lot of covid conscious folks are doing things like camping, hikes, and kayaking. Adapt that to whatever your locale is. And I understand that maybe that kind of stuff isn't for you, but that's the reality of our situation, I'm afraid. And acknowledging reality means adapting ourselves to make the best of it, not just ignoring it like the Back to Normal folks.
- Unfortunately i don't have a facebook account and am wary of reddit. I finally managed to pretty much remove it entirely from my browsing habits and dont know if i want to go back. The forum and app are interesting but like why does it have to be an app, i hate using phones for pretty much anything.
  I looked in the past and didn't find it anything in real life and like i said even before covid this place didnt have any sort of actual community but i will be on the lookout.
  Yea i kind of resigned to the fact that my best hope is probably only a few online things at this point. Thanks for the suggestions

Hellotalk is full of friendly people who are eager to chat with anyone who speaks English. You don’t actually have to study any languages there, you can just chat in English if you want and your conversational partners will usually be grateful. Many people there are also either communists or open to communism. Best results (relationship-wise) come from learning Chinese or Arabic in my opinion.
Just be wary: sometimes I’ve made seemingly close friends there only for them to disappear without explanation. Make sure you get people’s contact info if you make real friends.
Voice rooms can be good for finding active users but an American POS reported me there once for discussing politics so also be careful.

I think it’s just dumb luck but you just have to keep putting out bids for connection wherever people are. I met someone on Reddit the other year and had a relationship that led to the real world. It was terrifying and incredible, I left Reddit after cth got banned but decided to go back to make a post and shit just happened (I guess that was my bid).
I’m still wrestling with how to feel about the entire thing because it was as real as I’ve ever experienced but it all started online. I think we’d still be together if we met irl. Some people are fine with online interactions leading to in person ones but they always make me extremely uncomfortable

i learned the hard way that social media, alone, is a VERY poor remedy for loneliness.
i never socialized much even before covid because my autism made human relationships difficult to create and maintain. i got along A LOT better with animals; so i've had many pets instead.
i make social media work for me by using it as a socialization supplement along with frequent-ish short bursts of ultra intense social exchanges irl thanks to who and what i am; unless you're like me, this specific remedy isn't going to work for you, so you'll likely need more. i share this here as a response to your quandry and show that success with social media is indeed possible and also to make you aware that using online communities can work as a supplement at most; instead of a main means of socialization.
it might work if you can figure out how to cobble enough supplements together to make up for your loneliness, like i did; online communities alone is not likely to work and is only one piece of the puzzle that you need to figure out for yourself.
- This used to be my mindset but it's not really possible anymore because of covid and life just getting in the way of everyone.
  I want to try and cast a wide net so to speak and be apart of multiple communities but i don't really know how to enter just one to begin with.
  
  at the zenith of my loneliness, i started doing any and every social gathering i could find, whether or not i had any interest or felt comfortable joining.
  i was rejected by almost all of them and didn't like most of the rest, but i found the few that been working for me along with online spaces.

If you're trans, I'd easily recommend the trans mega and matrix server. Matrix is pretty much a discord server but is still good imo. Those two are where all my internet friends come from.
- I mentioned this in my other comment but does it have guidelines on who can enter it? I know a few comms on Hexbear are like that.
  Also to be honest i didn't exactly click with all of this site in the past however i supposed that could have changed
  
  Only guideline is being trans. If you are, you're all good! The culture on tracha is also somewhat different from this site, in a way that could appeal to you. It's just as safe a space as hexbear, if not safer.
  If you need help with setup and such, feel free to DM me, it's not too difficult.

Don't
- I dont have an alternative

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