@canion Thanks. As the post says, it's just a bunch of opinions that I needed to get out. But I absolutely agree that the best solution here is to have a blog with your own domain name. Just so many positives associated with it that it's worth the effort.
@lmika Yes, exactly this. During my 20 years on the web I've used and self-hosted message boards, seen dozens of so-called "huge" services come and go, and observed countless drama. There's nothing new here; it's simply the case that Twitter attracted very online, very loud people.