It provides me with a sense of community that I lack in my life. I am driven by technology but not a lot of other people in my life are interested in these things.

You should try to find meet ups and/or hacker spaces if you live near an actual city. I've been to several countries and have always been able to find those (well, ok, except when I was in rural France with the closest real city a 1h30+ min drive or so).