I've used internet forums/groups since it was possible to do so, from the early days of Compuserve and Cix (the wider internet then was only for university types), email lists, then newsgroups, which actually nearly all became useless because of flaming/spamming/trolling, then forums such as this which have evolved to be great resources.
As someone else said, the old way of doing things was to join a society for your interest, then receive newsletters and perhaps go to a meeting once or twice a year.
There is bound to be a lot of repetition, but in a way that's a healthy sign, as new people are joining and obviously the same issues come up (OHJ, crosswind technique, GPS, Permit/CofA and so on).
As for young people starting flying, that's a different problem, and I think one of the biggest problems is the breathtaking cost of learning to fly. Some may dismiss this, but when you have to spend well over £100 for an hour's flying lesson, you have to be super keen to keep going, especially as it takes quite a few of those lessons before it really starts getting fun.