Well hopefully you don't have vicious mobs at your workplace.

I don't right now, but I certainly have people who dislike each other for some reason or another, and I'm worried about what that looks like when they all start going 3, 6, 9 months without seeing each other.

That sounds like... an improvement?

Hopefully, but I think there's a very plausible world where a lack of familiarity shifts people from "I kinda think he's wrong on these issues" to "I can't possibly work for a company that'd employ this jerk".

My generally-pretty-friendly workplace has recently had quite a bit of viciousness about:

a) bbatsov's response to calls for Rubocop to be renamed

b) The use of "master" as the canonical branch's name in our main git repo

c) Linking to xkcd #75 (which uses the c-word) (the link was provided in response to a thread about mixed levels of profanity)

When bikeshedding meets virtue signaling you know you're in for a good ride

I have to admit I have a weakness for reading but not participating in these shit-hit-the-fan github threads. So many people arguing over something so trivial.

It sounds like your workplace has jumped the shark. I hope you're able to find another soon.