Why do people always talk about helping and inspiring one another on this sub?

Hi all! I have been reading this sub for a while now and a common theme I see is people saying "This sub is great because people here are willing to help and support one another. I love it!" Now, I just don't see that.<br><br>I see a lot of people posting their work or ideas, and then a lot of critiques of said work. Maybe I'm wrong here, but in my experience, critiques are not very effective at improving quality or inspiring people, especially when they are anonymous on the internet. I've gotten plenty of critiques on my stuff from my teachers, writing groups, beta readers, and online forums, and you know what? None of them really helped me in the long run, and they cut me down more than they built me up. I can't imagine an internet stranger would be an exception to this. <br><br>Could you please explain to me why this is what you want, and what the point is? Are you looking for a pat on the back? Are you looking for an ego boost so you can feel like a real writer? What's the difference between a critique and plain old negative feedback? How do you expect an anonymous stranger to know more about your writing than yourself?<br><br>I'm just genuinely curious.