Maybe I have changed, or maybe the Internet has changed, but I used to meet people on the internet. I used to make friends online, and some of these friendships gradually mutated into "offline" friendships. There used to be message boards, IRC and web chats where people would talk, form groups, become friends or enemies.
People used to have blogs on livejournal or other services, some were trying to create content, write interesting posts. I met a lot of new people through that medium too.
But now everybody is locked inside the narrow bubble of their own social network. People don't become friends on facebook - they usually "friend" their IRL friends. You can't fit a good meaningful post into a tweet. And you can't have a normal discussion without sane comment threads like on livejournal - and I haven't seen that on any of the popular social sites.
That might be more you who's changed. I've made friends via Hacker News, and I believe it's fairly common for heavy Twitter or Tumblr users to meet people that way, too. This article[1] (long) discusses how the same phenomenon happened on Google Reader until its social features were removed a year ago.
I've had the same feeling, but I don't think it's the internet - it's us.
Reflecting on some long-lost social circle that called an ancient BB home, I realized it had been a decade since I'd last meaningfully connected with an online community.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Take Dribbbble - folks follow, share, meet, and eventually collaborate with total strangers, following basically the same script I did 10 years ago. One of the qualities of successful online communities is their ability to catalyze connections between individuals through external channels - not just comments on a photo thread, but sharing IM, SMS, meatspace. Older communities like bikeforums.net are living artifacts of the old model. Some newer communities, like Meetup, race you through the first couple stages. Facebook works very hard to keep you inside.
I think my personal investment in communities has simply become focused on more immediate circles. But if I wanted to, there's a whole internet of people chatting about their interests with strangers who become friends (and allies and enemies).
My feelings mirror yours... I'm actually building a product that I hope can help re-introduce some spontaneity in people's online interactions, as they journey through the web. Still very early stage though: [redacted]
It's in closed beta. I need to add a few features that allow people to locate others, find hotspots, etc before the main release (otherwise you only bump into people on facebook and google)
Probably mid-Jan will open it up entirely as the holidays are almost here :)
I still do this on facebook and other social sites. Talking with people online based on groups of common interest, I've made geographically dispersed friends.
Granted, it is probably different from the way it was done in the past, but it is still possible.
I've found that Tumblr's tag system works very well for the sort of serendipitous interaction you bring up. By tracking tags, I have met plenty of friends who, of course, share some of my interests. Heck, some of us started up an IRC channel. The web isn't going to stop forming friendships anytime soon.
People used to have blogs on livejournal or other services, some were trying to create content, write interesting posts. I met a lot of new people through that medium too.
But now everybody is locked inside the narrow bubble of their own social network. People don't become friends on facebook - they usually "friend" their IRL friends. You can't fit a good meaningful post into a tweet. And you can't have a normal discussion without sane comment threads like on livejournal - and I haven't seen that on any of the popular social sites.
That's also a part of the web we lost.