[kitsunesoba]

As someone who was a teen on the internet in the 2000s, I think it at least partially has to do with lack of perspective or a reference point — extremism isn’t registering as extremism due to not having a measuring stick.

Additionally, anything that engages an individual’s emotions is likely to be attractive at that stage of life, thanks to teenagers on average having emotional centers that are overdeveloped relative to the rest of their brains.

A lot of this extends into a person’s early 20s as well, depending on how quickly they mature, their life experiences, etc. Personally speaking, in retrospect I didn’t have my head screwed on even remotely right until at least age 26 or so.