Internal forums are a hoot. Brown is like that. I used to be a mod but we never did anything. I'm still a heavy user cause I just can't stop but mostly lurk now. But I'd estimate 10 to 15% of the pilot group participates cause it can be such a wasteland. Every now and then you pick up something operationally that's useful or helpful. When talking to pilots about the forum over the years, I'd say for every guy who participated there was one who was strongly negative about the place.
You're on to something here...and it's not just airlines/aviation, but all kinds of social media.
There is some percentage of posters that are just good people. Posting good info, asking good questions, sharing meaningful and/or informative experiences. There can be some jerks in this bunch, but typically they provide worthwhile information or commentary.
Then you have the people who rarely interact. I know it's hard to understand in this age of texts and emails, but a very substantial part of the population does not like to write. At. All. They come in, they lurk, but they simply won't interact because writing is a huge chore. I feel like, but cannot prove, that this population is diminishing over time simply because of the pervasiveness of written communications these days.
A different group is NOT related to the last group that comes in and lurks because they don't like to interact. Completely separate mechanism. They don't like conflict, they don't like the stronger personalities, or whatever. They come, they surf, they might post looking for information on a very specific subject, then they vanish.
Then there are the narcissists, whose name is legion. Everything is about them, even if they deny it. Everything they do is holy and right, everything anyone else does is crap, even if it actually aligns with their goals. Their way or the highway. Every business transaction with them is an immediate grudge match, and that goes for any kind of personal interaction. They're always trying to establish alpha, and that means peeing on every thread and posting. They drive a significant percentage of participants away simply because they are so toxic and life is too short to deal with their BS. The only one's that can put up with their BS are other narcissists, and thus you begin the downward death spiral of any forum.
The real damage is caused by these people, because they make out whatever it is that they are doing as the one and only way, and even if that's the case, they'll never, ever admit it was because their experience is an outlier. Luck, rich relative, fortunate patron, whatever...no, it was all about them and their leet skilz.
I've watch this play out several times over several types of forums, and decent individuals who are only looking for some unbiased information get sucked into these people's orbit. They listen to these people and make significant life and financial decisions based on it. Yes, we all know you should take everything online with several salt licks worth of salt, but that's not what really happens. People get the wrong idea on how hard and or unlikely someone else's good deal was, and never ever stop to consider that it was a significant outlier, assuming it happened at all.
Everyone is an ace investor on line. Everyone can beat the market. Nothing to it.
And everyone above is just being themselves. I'm not even talking about the people who use the forums to plant false flags, have some kind agenda, looking to protect their good deal, and/or spread similar chaff, either singularly or through some coordinated effort.