FYI, places like Usenet are still around. Usenet is full of spam, trolls, and obnoxious contrarians, but you can post about whatever you'd like, receive replies for whomever, and never have to deal with upvote politics or comment pile-ons. Ask your friends to join you in these sorts of spaces.

One newsgroup I recommend is `comp.sys.raspberry-pi`. It has a pretty high SNR and is quite active, especially in comparison to some other groups on Usenet.