The pre-mainstream internet sheltered niche subcultures through anonymity

Evidence

But few bemoaned the internet’s distance from the mainstream—that was the point. From the days of the WELL, the internet gave people with unusual tastes a place to congregate, share information, and create content with limited appeal to outsiders. Millions of people with strange hobbies and interests could participate anonymously, with few personal sacrifices. Web forums allowed S&M aficionados to discuss the best whips and ball gags without revealing their faces or names. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 165

Categorization

• XREF: Directly evidences the ‘omnivore monoculture’ thesis premise: before mass adoption + identity-linked platforms, anonymity made subcultural differentiation sustainable. The ‘without revealing their faces or names’ point foreshadows how identity-driven platforms later collapse that anonymity.
• SEED: Seed for the counter-case essay: is the ‘blankness’ of the current era actually the loss of anonymous niche spaces, or simply subcultures being visible-but-ignored because they no longer register as exotic?