[ceejayoz]

> A forum full of nazis is not toxic. An important element for real "toxicity" is something _attractive_, something that pulls you in, and keeps pulling you back in even when you are hurt.

That's precisely how forums full of Nazis get recruits; by being attractive to folks trending in that direction.

[dkiok21k]

I need to attract you, continuously, and then, in the same fashion, _hurt you_. Both elements need to be present for something to be toxic. If someone is "just" attracted, that's simply recruitment, and not toxic in itself.

[ceejayoz]

If you don't think being recruited into neo-Nazism isn't a harmful thing, I'm not sure what to say.

[dkiok21k]

That's not what I said, at all.

[ceejayoz]

> I need to attract you, continuously, and then, in the same fashion, _hurt you_.

This is precisely the case with cultish groups like neo-Nazis.

They draw vulnerable/disaffected people in, they have attractive elements (sense of community, us-versus-the-world, positive feedback on traits others see as negative) that make it hard to leave, and they hurt you (job loss, friends and family disown you, reinforcement of those negative traits).

[dkiok21k]

I never said otherwise. I said a forum full of hatespeech/nazis is not _automatically_ a "toxic" place. It may be "violent", or "dangerous", and other things. If you can outright see what they are up to, and they are open about it, it is not toxic. Membership may indeed become toxic for particular individuals later on. I didn't say it won't.

[tarotuser]

Quit gaslighting your definition of toxic, Stan.

[mschuster91]

> I said a forum full of hatespeech/nazis is not _automatically_ a "toxic" place.

The key thing is, sooner or later just like a pond full of toxic mining waste, the toxic waste seeps through and eventually the dams fully break.

We've seen exactly this in politics - it began with Trump and others spreading "birther" conspiracy myths in the Obama time, progressed with the Tea Party and culminated in a full-blown coup attempt where mass casualties were only barely averted.

If you just let a pond of toxic waste accumulate and don't do anything to clean it up, you will inevitably head towards disaster.