I'm sorry some of you say GN isn't as much fun as it used to be, especially as I consider you are the core members who hold the site together. The fact that you have known "all types" must mean that you have a good idea of what works and what doesn't.
Does it depend on the time of signing up to GN and the prevailing climate? I started joining in around the onset of covid. I had never been on SM media before, and GN was my first plunge onto a forum of any sort. The thing is, I naively assumed from reading the majority of posts, that one was meant to be argumentative and rude, because that's how the site came across at the time. You're right, there was very little light hearted stuff, and it was all about reporting and deleted posts, banned contributors and pile ons. I thought that was what happened, and must admit that on one or two occasions I fell into the trap of what I thought was the done thing to do ie. to report posts. Several newbies did leave at that time, not because there were cliques but because it was all rather bemusing.
What I am trying to ask badly is, did maybe those of you who joined during happier times meet with a different type of audience and did this change due to outside forces?