Online subcultures lack the social distance that offline scenes needed to invent

Evidence

Today such subcultures have largely migrated online. While digital spaces allow people to find their niches more easily, they do not create adequate social distance for the isolation that fosters invention. And the omnipresence of mainstream culture means that many subcultures are now just fan communities devoted to existing mass-market entertainment. The omnivore monoculture’s inclusiveness created the odd situation in which the most fervent, distinct subcultures exist on the political right. Yet because these groups are largely motivated by revanchist nostalgia rather than forward-thinking creativity, their cultural influence is stunted. Right-wing memes like Rare Pepes are toxic rather than generative. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 865

Categorization

• XREF: Rare Pepes as toxic vs generative connects to the reader’s argument about whether ‘blankness’ is real — the right now hosts the only fervent subcultures.
• QUESTION: Does the claim that offline scenes required social distance hold for early internet scenes like Usenet or 4chan, which did invent culture (memes, lolcats, Anonymous)?