I wasn't deep into any of those comms, but "sooner or later those groups would combust as we turned on each other. There's only so much negativity you can share before every interaction becomes catty and mean" - yeah. I joined some circles that were formed mostly by negative definition (fans of X show who don't like most-popular-character Y, etc), and there was a pretty high rate of them turning on themselves over little things instead of being a community focused on fanworks about the unpopular characters or such. Focusing on shared loves seems to work a lot better for making an enjoyable experience.