With time and atention you can be yor authentic self, ( sans swearing, personal attacks, implications that parallel commenters are deranged, etc ) and maintain your balance.
I've been throttled at least three times and have come back unscathed.
The trick is to hold your ground without "being a dick about it" (Australian idiom), don't get baited, and keep a broad high view of the general domain of discussion .. the ground is littered with minefields.
I disagree with this part , because the comment ranking rewards groupthink . I would like to see a "sort by controversial" . I usually scroll to the very bottom of posts to see the interesting comments.
> I would like to see a "sort by controversial"
Ahhh. Okay, maybe try reddit or one of those karma farming sites then - they have this "feature".