[happytoexplain]

Note that, when you live in the world we do, you are exposed nigh permanently to people expressing irrational/bitter thoughts and people expressing thoughts irrationally/bitterly, even if you avoid the platforms of the major offenders. Our brains strongly tend to think relatively, so when we see somebody express those same or adjacent thoughts, but without the irrationality or bitterness, it is almost automatic to interpret it in the same light that we are used to. This can cause the afterimage of "internet shithole" to hover over every public platform we visit, assuming it's not hyper-localized to one's preferred circles. Further, this effect is inherently more dramatic for opinions that are counter to our own, so the image is not just "internet shithole", but "internet shithole of the opposite social/political leaning to me", even if that leaning is actually small, non-existent, or even opposite to our perception.

I.e. when you encounter somebody saying "I think X", if they are merely doing so as an unsubstantive or hostile expression of tribalism nine times out of ten, then you may miss the tenth person who is actually making a reasonable point.

And, on a less broadly applicable note, when public health is a direct consequence, the topic gets even muddier and even more emotional than usual, understandably.