When I first created the Khan Academy Extension, I didn’t really expect much to come out of it. Of course, I did hope that it found enough users to be worth the effort, but I didn’t expect the numbers it currently has. My original motive was attention. I think most of what I’ve done on Khan Academy has been fueled by my craving for the attention of my peers on the site. I think that most people who stumble into the community and make a genuine effort to participate in it do so for the same reasons.

There are definitely outliers to this idea, Bob Lyon maybe, SpongeJr. I suppose it was just their age that enabled them to \“rise above\” the superficial need. I know that as I’ve grown older I have become disenchanted with the the on-site community, and with my own previous desperation for their respect. A lot of KA users (at varying degrees of \“\“fame\”\“) have evidently felt the same; the only difference being that I haven’t left.

In some capacity, I suppose I have. I rarely log into the site or participate in the various off-site discord servers that have evolved into an almost separate community themselves. But regardless of this I still haven’t left. I still occasionally log in to the site and interact with some of the community members.

I’ve been a part of many different internet sub-communities over the years, but I’ve never really felt the same connection to them as I have with the Khan Academy community. I suppose it could be because I have the extension and various other projects (at varying degrees of stagnation) that make me feel a sense of obligation. Or maybe it’s something else entirely. I don’t know if I’ll ever know. But for now I stick around.