@Mr_NutterButter @beardalaxy The difference between someone like Chris Chan and these grifters is that Chris Chan was a lolcow from the start. People were drawn towards him because he was gullible and easy to troll. Even without his Internet presence, it is unlikely that Chris Chan would have ever had a normal adult life. He would probably either be living off of welfare or putting lids on boxes.

The culture war grifters, on the other hand started out as political commentators (with some having online careers before then) and people were drawn to them because they were looking for answers and leaders, but it all devolved into lolcow culture due to purity spiraling and in-fighting.
Sure there were people like Mister Metokur or people on KiwiFarms who were most likely only ever in it for the drama, but the fact stands that they were there to create some movement (unless they were planted by the feds for some psyop).