To be frank, that's how I feel about HN: it's a little haven of (usually) calm, rational discussion, and I fear that as it gets more popular the level of discourse and content will decrease.

I believe HN will remain as it is, thanks to the behind-the-scenes work of the moderators.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/th...

https://drewdevault.com/2017/09/13/Analyzing-HN.html

Thanks for posting that New Yorker article, it was a great read about the humans behind HN.

Then why mention it?

The person above is merely relaying their experiences that these communities indeed still exist. You can read this implicitly as: "having authentic experiences online is absolutely possible, if one is willing to find and seek them out, but you must be willing to seek". And also: that those that aren't willing to seek these things out themselves, will ultimately destroy these communities for they lack that same necessary passion required to have these sorts of interesting and authentic experiences.

Not everything communicated online is intended for the direct and easy benefit of yourself.

Probably indication for the OP that such groups are still out there, rather than leaving it open to interpretation that reddit has finally absorbed the last of such groups.