I would suggest that it didn't happen in its most well known form until we were older (MySpace launched just after I graduated high school), but it did exist. Communities and message boards were a thing before MySpace and Facebook.

Kids today do need a sense of community. And we have enshittified the outside so much that they aren't likely to get that spending time in public. How far will this spread? Social media isn't just Instagram, or xitter, or the like. It's also things like steam, or video game forums, or anything with a chat feature. Kids make meaningful connections with others this way. Not all social media is bad.

How many afterschool clubs still exist? How many group activities are catered around school (but not school) these days that aren't sports? Where is the place that is for kids in our communities?