I ran a Fidonet node for a few years. Whee. Pretty much. Couldn't have said it better myself.As another ancient old thing - I was on Fidonet and Citanet, and I used to bangpath my way to anon.penet.fi - I agree in general, but I'm not sure I agree with you about the unusually caustic nature of Reddit. It reminds me very much of parts of the old Alt hierarchy; a fetid swamp of scum and villainy.
So if the /b/tards don't get you, the concern trolls will. And if you become the focus of media attention - if you become fashionable - the signal-to-noise ratio becomes untenable. After a few decades of seeing places come and go, due to various combinations of toxic communities, ham-fisted community management and inept attempts to monetize, it's likely reddit's turn.