You said its more of an issue for the individual than the community, how much more?

I see this as a shared responsibility. The main reason is I'm convinced there's not much people can do about the issue of validation.

I see the validation as a double edged sword. Lots of people do legitimately need validation from strangers online, and I'm glad they have communities to go to, to feel better about themselves.

On the other side of it, is it can form into unhealthy comparison. It's the reason Instagram stopped showing the number of likes a few years back.

I think some reddit communities had a good idea for limiting the karma counter to 0, because negative karma definitely contributes to how people feel about themselves and the community.

I understand many people see it as self-policing, but if you ever visit r/vegan, you will see an extremely gatekeepy community which breeds toxicity. People who step in any direction are taking a step over the line, and it forces compliance via mob instead of allowing mods to handle bad actors.