This is the natural progression of trends I've been seeing unfold for a while:
1. The Tell-Tale Abuse of Jargon
The overuse of jargon in any kind of community is usually a bad sign. I've always looked at the term "red pill" with suspicion since it was lifted from a popular movie and automatically imparted a corny and derivative sound to everything. The same went with "manosphere," which always came across as kind of science-fictiony to me. I accepted (and periodically used) these terms as imperfect place-holders for the time being. But it quickly became apparent that they were becoming, at least for some, virtual "teams" for guys who have an overpowering
need to belong to a group. You see it with newbies on the forum, with questions like
"is it red pill to XYZ?" or posting some egregiously contrarian video or article and automatically calling it
"red pill," just because it disagrees with everything. Like all jargon, these terms became a way to strip meaning from real conversation and caricature people with certain views.
2. Invasion by Alienated, Awkward Men with Weak Loyalties
There's always been camps in this world. One group--of which I consider myself part--are men just sitting around shooting the shit about life and women like men have always done. You work out ideas and share tips without stakes or worries that you'll "get in trouble." In the absence of a barbershop or mechanic's shop--and in the age of the internet--dudes turn to the computer for a few moments a day. Then, they go about their day. We talk shit about women, but simultaneously understand that women will be women, and can appreciate when we see a good thing. It's like that saying--repeated around the forum--that you can't get mad at a shark for biting you. It's just doing what it does.
Then there's a group of guys--a growing group, I'd say--who are unsuccessful with women,
want to be successful with women, and have just enough knowledge to know that the mainstream isn't going to offer anything of value to them. But they also look at men like us with disdain. We're the lesser of the evils, and they selfishly join our ranks to try to
extract some value, before unceremoniously taking off. They're basically the Skyler Whites of the internet: soft loyalties--
technically on your side, but quick to turn on you, because they never fully believed in what you're doing or talking about, and always held you in sort of low regard. They fundamentally resent all women, hate men who are successful with them, and hate the current state of affairs. They're basically alone, and don't have the skills or desire to collaborate with others.
Sadly, I've seen more and more guys (usually marginal) pass through the corridors of the various communities that comprise this corner of the web. This red pill reddit appears to have become saturated with this type of character.
3. Sleazy Used-Car Salesmanship Vibe from Some Guys
There's an unpleasant streak of sleazy salesmanship in this world that's rubbed a lot of us the wrong way for a while. I don't say this out of any kind of loyalty or dick-riding, but I've always thought Roosh has done things tastefully. Never pushed his products hard, produced tons of content for free before ever selling anything, and so on. He's done such a good job, in fact, that when he barely makes a move to monetize 10 years of work, people lose their shit.
Meanwhile, there are certain guys who are constantly angling to extract a buck out of what we do. I've had relatively low-rep members
twice try to swoop in and
internet-squat on ideas that I put out on the forum--and that's just the guys who have been willing to confess it, and are actually decent contributors around here. There's certainly much worse. I've been contacted by PM by other guys about publishing parts of my posts on the forum in their e-books--of course without an offer of remuneration or even writer credit. I've had virtually no-rep guys ask me to "proofread" their e-book manuscript, and write a positive review of it when I'm done, all in exchange for a free copy of the finished product.
Maybe this is natural, in a world where the ideas of "location independent" and passive income are the dream, but that necessarily has created mutations on a old type of character. The "PUA hustler" has been around for years, but I've seen him go through changes. This new version isn't just constantly selling, he'll dog-pile on a perceived competitor if he sees a chance to extract a few more sales out of it. I don't have any personal beef with Rollo Tomasi (I barely know the guy), but I've never seen someone who puts a link to one of his posts or products in more of his comments on ROK, or tweets that he makes to other guys--with the loosest and remotest relevance to the subject at hand. Self-promotion is one thing, but cannibalism like this, after years of using someone's platform for free advertising, is really distasteful.
Overall, I think these trends are normal, if unpleasant. They redraw lines that were blurring that maybe shouldn't be blurred. I, for one, would rather not associate with guys who have weird agendas, selfishly extract from a community without giving much in return, or who harbor odd resentments or hangups. I'm all for growth, but I think seeing this too much as a "movement"--as one member put it once--might end up being more costly than just seeing it as guys being guys, which is really what it maybe ought to be.