Questions: In general, do you think Bitcointalk.org is a friendly place, and/or would you be really comfortable telling close friends (offline, in the real world) that they should come here and sign up?
I don’t know anywhere else I would rather refer anyone to come learn both the pros and cons of Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies better than the forum.
The forum remains a balance between which ever twist you could think of, be it good or bad. It’s a people reaction to how and what you’re presenting. Besides, you’re not known formally by anyone and as such, no one holds nothing against you until otherwise. Hence, you stand to build how you’re perceived by the rest of the forum users and how that works out entirely depends on you.
In all, the business of the day is learning and unlearning so, if your archiving that by being a forum user, your good.