Agreed on the mood. I do find that I get depressed if I spend too much time online. I'm only on LinkedIn (for my biz). And I've pulled back massively on the time I spend on substack. I want a real life with real people. That said, I have met funny and interesting people online and have enjoyed the exchanges.

I eschewed debt and never got a 4-year degree (I have an AA and an AS) so I don't have a posse of intellectual friends. So I do enjoy the access to and conversation with people who "play in the field of ideas." Not too many of those in my visceral arena.