Take it from me: learn as little as possible. Don't get stuck face down in the drama. Step away from everything but the broadest understanding of how the system works.

Once you look under the hood, once you start seeing how the sausage is made, you will experience a long dark night of the soul – and not one that you will come out a better person than you came in.

Think of this as an overgrown Internet forum with no mods and utterly without individual sub-forums which would help you focus your attention on things that you want. With all that implies.

There are people here who just want to make content, find people who like it, and have them signal their approval – and those of the people that you want to look for.

For the rest? Avert your eyes.