I think it's harmless enough. What's close to wearing out welcome with me is the portion of visiting Georgia fans who are taking it upon themselves to teach us how to be fans -- they're egging on the trash talkers to the point where a few are starting to turn on their fellow Husker fans for not thinking we'll win. The trash talking is fun and the opposing fans always welcome. A few of them are starting to tread close to 'instigator' territory.
Also, while I don't see any problem with the woodshed stuff and the sigs, I'm very much not a fan of gif bombing, ponies or not. It's fine in moderation, and it's OK currently, but at one point it was extremely excessive. Thankfully it's calmed down, but the pony bombing definitely should not be encouraged.
As for turning people away, I don't think there's evidence of that. It's an interesting story and people wonder what's behind it. But at some point it'll fade as people lose interest in it.*
* Who knows, this part may be wrong. Maybe in five years the pony craze will still be going hard...I mean, cats are still doing pretty well.
