This reminds me of Rainbow’s End by Verner Vinge, where fan communities become large and organized enough to have meaningful political clout (and their online flame war conflicts can have actual significant impacts on society) and of the Poseidon’s Children books by Alastair Reynolds where ideas like “Panspermia” become post-religious life philosophies that people commit themselves to.

And I think of all the examples I can think of, I would join the Panspermians from Poseidon’s Children. The idea that we could choose to have purpose and that our purpose could be spreading life to dead rocks throughout the universe, because it’s beautiful and worthy and a living rock is much more precious than a dead one is something I could really throw myself into.