I never let myself get fully immersed in the fanbase. I just wanted to deal with things on my own time, and the show on its own merits. I got in at around the start of Season 5, about a year (give or take) after the whole controversy with Twilight becoming feather-brained, but I never really dwelt on any of it. Minor things like that are, in my experience, incredibly silly things to get worked up over. Ditto with everything else that people found negative about that time period.
I was never really a fan of the show. Certain characters I liked, but the show in general wasn't my cup of tea. The whole reason I joined this site was for the Role playing.
