I think the best part of this place is that you can take it or leave it. You don't have to engage with someone if you don't want to, and you can make actual friends.
@Revoltingest and I were friends a million years ago on a different forum, where the Pope would show up, and the world's leading expert on tartans resided. Even though I've only ever seen him once, and I was afraid to introduce myself in case it wasn't him, I feel like we've become actual friends over the years. I probably wouldn't loan him money, but that's a pretty common thing with my friends. You can come here, be you, make smarmy stupid jokes about farts, argue politics with a loon, ignore a whiney little snot, and get on with your life.