Selection Drains Online Movements

Early adopters in online ideological scenes are idea‑driven and funny; once visibility and monetization arrive, status‑seekers pour in while high‑quality contributors and mainstream‑adjacent artists exit to avoid stigma. The result is more infighting and a shift toward low‑effort 'slop' content, independent of the movement’s formal ideas. — This shifts diagnoses of movement rise-and-fall from ideology or leadership to predictable incentive-driven selection effects that can apply across political factions.