It's not my impression there are, but we have different interests in the subjects we like to photograph and watch from other members, so I guess we tend to comment and discuss with like-minded members.
LOL. I hear you but that is just what is the case. Many of us have been here for years and years, so the old table at the local bar is a good quip.
It is like that. I even feel like an outsider because I am American, often. Of course, those of you in the center would perhaps not realize what being on the outside feels like. My guess is the NikonGear is just feeling what most forums feel like these days. Either it is slash and burn and put other people you don't like down or hang together.
I feel more welcome at Luminous Landscape yet they post about nothing. Fred Miranda is, IMO, a closed crowd where a few bullies hate and criticise what they don't like.
The odd tiny forum is struggling along. I believe photography is struggling along, buffeted by mobile phones which keep getting better and better. No, mobile phones are not a match for DSLRs or mirrorless major cameras, but they are good enough for more and more people.
I wish I knew the answer, but we may be beyond the pale, so to speak. I well remember when I first began doing focus stacking, being put down and made fun of right here on Nikon Gear. Now I am also experiencing with AE graphics, where the camera becomes a kind of supercomputer, and of course most photographers don't like AI photos, yet once again they are missing the point and the boat. AI graphics will not be denied and our only choice is to learn to use them well.
Here is another AI graphic I prompted and used as an illustration.
