I was thinking about this thread last night, and in particular about the "community" side of SB. When I was driving to meet TSandM and Peter Guy for lunch last week and I was telling my wife all about them, and what they do, and where they travel, and their wider families, and my wife goes: "Are you sure you have never met them before?" It is amazing how well you can know someone without having met them.
The other thing I was remembering was a few years ago when I used to play a MMORPG with a group of "friends" whom I had never met, and one day one of them posted a message that they were going to have stop playing. They had really enjoyed the years that they had spent with the group, but unfortunately they had terminal cancer and they didn't want to leave the group without saying a proper good bye. I don't remember if I actually cried, but I suspect I was probably close. Yet I had no idea what this person's real name was, whether they were black or white, man or woman, young or old, or where in the world they lived. I am not sure what it is that makes people or communities special, but I guess it really is "something inside" that makes us who we are.
So, with that I'll wish a very Merry Christmas to all my friends on SB - those whom I have met, and those whom I haven't (yet)!