Some websites aren't that way, and they're really cool. But the bad websites are just terrible. You can identify them by the way regulars treat newbies or "outsiders". They bully them, talk like they have superior intellect, and aften point to their alpha male as having the "ultimate authority" or some such crap. It's like guys in a little gang.

Good websites, on the other hand, are also easy to identify. They have regulars that are helpful and welcoming. Those websites are the most useful, and the most fun.

Trouble is, there is a sort of emotional obsession that draws you back into a sick website. Once you're attacked, you feel a need to set things right, to explain yourself. So people can get caught in that like a spider's web. It's a sick cycle, but it's easy to get stuck in it for a while. You always think there's a need to explain yourself, so you keep going back.

The bad sites are those that are run by a guy that is a technical hack pushing garbage or a attention-seeking egomaniac that thrives on driving internet traffic to his website at any personal or ethical cost. Nothing to offer but pseudo-science and insults backed by a host of sockpuppets and shills. The best thing you can do is to stay away from a site like that. Otherwise, you can get really hurt and I think that's what Cuppa Joe is trying to say has happened to him.