There are a good few writers here from other sites. I've worked with many of them. Our take on what you wrote would be the opposite of yours. In time, you will find people who say that.

None of us are interested in writing communities. We certainly don't mind forming friendships with those who interact with us frequently, but these are more likely to be readers than writers.

We don't do follow for follow because the optics aren't good. It looks like one is desperate. There appear to be two schools of thoughts about it. The one taught by all the success gurus is that it doesn't matter if you added 27,000 people to get 5000 people. I actually saw someone like that. She had about 5 readers. Having followers has nothing to do with having readers.

There are also a lot of us who are so sick and tired of all this writing community business. Certainly some of us came here to write, but a lot of readers came here to read intellectually interesting pieces - which is what the site mostly comprised before Ed opened it up.

I basically mute or block anyone who is writing about writing (even though I write about it myself. Mine, however, is in response to all the bullarkey that is written about it).

To say that I am surprised that you have written for so long on so many sites and you believe what you do would be an understatement. Mostly people who make those kind of statements are those who have no experience of earning their living as full time writers.

My apologies, and I wish you the very best of luck.