the forums here is actually a great place to grow up in if you also have real life friends. you get to experience a tame version of the bad side of society and see the diversity in experiences and character you don’t often get to see in other more self-selected communities.
ex: 4chan mostly populated by toxic memers and questionable people, reddit posting and upvoting format leading to circlejerky subreddits and discussions. here we pretty much have everyone