The term that seems to be used for this is "radicalisation". i.e., someone was just going about their everyday life, and then they were exposed to information that (rightly or wrongly) sent them down a path of developing strong political views and evangelising them.
One thing I always come back to when considering this, is that it's _really hard_ for me to rationalise why this should be true.
I can use the Internet without going crazy (I hope. This is obviously self-classified). I think most people can, but even if that's not true, there's certainly a large set of individuals who _don't_ form insane political views and try to push them on others.
What's different in the individuals that seem to be really strongly affected by taking part in extreme "communities", or are even drawn to them in the first place?
What makes someone want to assume the worst of their fellow man? Where does all this anger come from?
One thing I always come back to when considering this, is that it's _really hard_ for me to rationalise why this should be true.
I can use the Internet without going crazy (I hope. This is obviously self-classified). I think most people can, but even if that's not true, there's certainly a large set of individuals who _don't_ form insane political views and try to push them on others.
What's different in the individuals that seem to be really strongly affected by taking part in extreme "communities", or are even drawn to them in the first place?
What makes someone want to assume the worst of their fellow man? Where does all this anger come from?