Have always been interested in lolcows, eg fandom_wank and the insanity of the people in those tight-knit internet-based communities.
I've also spent my time in SJW hugboxes, and was getting more and more annoyed by any slightly different opinion getting called all the negative SJW buzzwords - 'problematic', 'MRA', 'gamergate', 'alt-right', 'fascist'. People would be screaming about their oppression in an online-only space where only words were involved and they actually were privileged by other posters the more oppressions they claimed - with trans people being on top. Pointing out they weren't literally being murdered on the internet, however, got you REEEEEd at.
Found out about the farms and its thread on a personal lolcow I'd had run-ins with. Enjoyed the emphasis on facts, and evidence, and pointing out hypocrisy. Enjoyed more the way posters can admit they were wrong and have civil disagreements (not all, but more than any supposed 'smart' sites I'd been part of). Enjoyed the most how, wherever on the political spectrum posters were, they seem most united as being against identity politics.
Signed up because the site is easier to use when you're logged in, and it's satisfying to point out when cows are being shitty, shitty people and not get dogpiled for not just listening and believing. The Farms is not afraid of its users having independent thought, and doesn't coddle people just because they feel a certain way.