Wow. That was all excellently well said. Hubski definitely feels like more of a community than, say, reddit or Facebook.

This part of your post particularly rang true:

Last time I checked Facebook (last week (okay, yesterday (ahem, this morning))), I had more targeted ads in my timeline than posts from people I knew. And of the actual human posts, I cared about exactly two of those people- the rest were passing acquaintances talking about their breakfasts (and, despite prevailing opinion, those breakfasts didn't look that amazing). I, in turn, don't really post to Facebook, and nobody on Facebook has ever asked where I've been.

I just checked my Facebook page. Half the stuff is by three sources (which I primarily use for news) and the other half is misc. people I've friended posting about something I don't care about. If I message anyone it's either my roommate, or I message them first. I could easily just stop using Facebook or even close my account. I don't really think anyone would care.

Here, it almost feels like I'm obligated to come here. And really, I've kind of stopped coming here for the content. Most of the stuff is just misc. articles. Some of it is neat, but there's quite a bit that I don't care for. Yet, I keep coming, and reading, and commenting on this stuff. Just as I would if it were real life and I really didn't care for the topic.

I find that I write longer replies than on other online "communities". And I find that I'm replying to the person rather than to the comment.

So really, I think what you are saying is correct. Hubski is the closest thing to a community that I've been in since my old Ragnarok Online days. And that's saying something.