I had the same experience when I joined, not too long ago: Not very inviting
I solved this by blocking each and any negative Andy, troll, screeching spam poster or anyone else with a low signal to noise ratio. I do the same with several threads, if it turns into a ■■■■ show I’ll just mute that thread so I never have to see it again so the negative vibes won’t affect me. It’s an ongoing process.
It’s fine and even good to disagree and have a strong discussion but I’m in no way going to let negative folks affect my chill. If something turns into a back and forth I’ll just stop bothering or posting, once I stated my views on something I’ll leave it at that and if they’re so eager to get the last reply in then I wish them GL with that.
Block out the bad vibes.