IMDB wasn't so great at the end

Granted, I mostly spent my time on individual film, actor, and TV boards. But, in those places, I never saw things change too much in terms of stuff like that. I remember actually being surprised when I got news that the boards were shutting down because of how bad things had gotten. It just wasn't something I encountered to any large degree. In my experience, I had consistently been successful at finding and becoming involved in interesting, in-depth discussions. From the moment I began using IMDb (over a decade ago) to the moment they shut the doors on us.

That being said, it always seemed that the newest movies or TV shows that everyone was talking about would attract trolls and troublemakers. I can't recall specific examples, but I remember thinking I'll just wait for hype to die down before posting in certain places because of that. But, I dunno. It felt like that sorta thing was always the norm, no matter where you were. I was never shocked by it. To my mind, it seemed inevitable that the more popular something is, the more clowns, a-holes, and attention-seekers you're bound to come across. I'd usually just give it a week, let them move onto the new popular thing, and come back to have my discussions.

I still miss its message boards. I had so much fun there. Sweet memories from the past

No, it was mostly entertainment / social networking.

The only way you'd find politics was if you intentionally went looking for it. Of course controversial films / actors were going to attract political discussion, that's the nature of controversial topics. And just because you don't personally see a topic as controversial doesn't mean it isn't controversial.

You have to realize though, that what we call "politics" in modern English often has absolutely nothing to do with promoting a change in law or form of government. It's more so that we just don't like what the other person is talking about so we call it "political discussion" even if it isn't.

I mean, discussing the historical inaccuracy of The Imitation Game (2014) isn't political, but I recall that the people who wanted to shut such topics down often viewed them as political and complained that anyone who didn't like a movie shouldn't be allowed to comment on the discussion boards.

No, I would say that IMDb was a great place to discuss a film / series that you wanted to... but that people couldn't take any negative commentary.