actually, there are small communities like that, but they're still very ethereal - general threads on 4chan. after some time, you end up interacting with the same people over and over and people start giving each other nicknames and identifying each other's posting styles. there's usually several regular posters that post every day and then there's a steady influx of newfags that come in, hang out, ask their brainfart question and leave eventually. i hang out in several of these types of generals related to my interests. they're pretty comfy, like IRC chatrooms back in the day.