In spite of the watery coat of gloss that this place has been given recently, it's still pretty unvarnished. That's why it can be a bit addictive.
TV and internet news outlets give you one side of the argument or the other, or they may be 'balanced', but all of them are sanitised and often dull. TFC, however, provides access to many areas of news etc, with all shades of opinion being expressed, much of it well-informed, some of it not, and much of it very raw and unfiltered. Although this leads to conflict, this level of freedom of speech is to be cherished, because it is informative and educationally highly valuable.
Although the recent steps taken to curb extreme personal abuse and libellous posts are good, the rules are about right now. Thankfully the changes haven't dulled the debate and humour that make TFC tick.
Has anyone ever done a thesis on this den of vipers?
...oh and you get a bit of Spurs too.