I don’t think there is really a conflict here though if we are all just nice to each other.

I think techy nerds are an absolutely fine foundation for a community so long as said techy nerds understand the inherent politics to being a techy nerd, having access to powerful computers and having the privilege of being in a highly skilled industry that pays fairly well (I know big generalization).

It is going to be awkward trying to expand the horizons to include a more diverse user base, but there is nothing wrong with awkwardness, just toxic behavior and gatekeeping.

Techy nerds just need to be willing to listen and evolve their understandings of community spaces. It seems like computer nerds are obsessed with visions of the internet before the masses of people and big corporations came onto it, but while that feeling is understandable it risks building a conceptual wall between people who are passionate about the capacity of computers to help people and the very people they want computers to help.

We can have a better more positive federation of communities than the internet has ever had if we decide right now to be more inclusive and radical in our solidarity with each other.