I have been a member of the SDMB for over 20 years (wow), since I was 12 or 13. At 34, I guess I arguably don’t count as a “younger member” anymore. The SDMB in the early 2000s was really a great place for a teenager - I learned things and had conversations I’d never be able to have in the real world or anywhere else on the internet for that matter, and I genuinely believe the SDMB made me a better person.
I’ve never been that prolific but I consistently lurked and continued to participate at a pretty steady rate. But my interest in this place dramatically waned during the Trump years. I hate Trump and what he represents but I’m also not a fan of most Democratic policies.
Aside from the fact that participating in any directly political threads just turns into a huge unpleasant pile-on against me, even the non-political threads are tiresome. People constantly find ways to slip in leftist political remarks in any thread regardless of topic and you get slapped down as being off-topic if you ever take the bait and respond to something you fundamentally object to.
I got tired of constantly having to bite my tongue so I don’t hang out here much anymore.