While I generally agree that it's mostly (and likely even entirely) noise, I also can't ignore that there were many instances of abuse in this particular issue

While I generally agree that it's mostly (and likely even entirely) noise, I also can't ignore that there were many instances of abuse in this particular issue that would be outright criminal in most jurisdictions (death threats) if those same people said the same things in person in a public forum. The fact that its done under a practically anonymous pseudonym by a large number of people doesn't change the criminality, it just makes it impractical to enforce the law against those offender. I don't think we want people desensitized to threats on their life, even if from a source that's typically just noise. If you want to spout hate and slurs over the internet, go right ahead, I think people do need to develop thick skin to idiots, but I wouldn't be sad if a few of the small number of people making threats of harm were tracked down and charged appropriately.