Now that families, communities, and traditional ways of doing things are long gone, people instead turn to hobbies and lifestyle groups. This is a huge infinite space, where you can do what you want and find people online. Some hobbies are simple, like watching YouTube videos, but some things get more niche and intense, like joining a religion, joining a CrossFit gym, or VanLife. These are largely just social media narcissist trends, not much else. Outdoorsy hobbies are super popular now, and they’ve become so popular that they’re immune to criticism. Someone can’t possibly understand why a person would say outdoor hobbies are just that, hobbies. They can’t see why a hobby can’t be the centerpiece of your life.
People might think all this is a replacement for family or community, but it’s not. Some questions to ask:
Of course not. Your online buddies don’t care about this stuff, unless they can maybe click a button to send you $5 if you setup a GoFundMe, but otherwise they aren’t going to physically show up and help you out or give you substantial cash or time. Even if your buddies are there to help occasionally, it’s still something rare and not a day-to-day thing. At the end of the day, people live alone, so they end up trying to date someone in their hobby group. What a train wreck.
If you attack the concept of hobbies, people get defensive, since that’s all they have. They can’t imagine the idea of having shared values that don’t involve kayaking, jogging, or going to coffee shops.
When you have a family or community, they’re part of your life and go through things with you. Otherwise, you become an anonymous cog in the machine, and you’re hoping that the government or some company will take care of you. Good luck with that!