Cults specifically look for people who aren't already tied in to healthier communities when they're recruiting. They want people who feel alienated and disconnected, because those feelings make them easy marks for what the cult is selling. With participation in healthier communities of all kinds slowly atrophying since the early '90s, the pool of people vulnerable to the appeal of toxic communities has grown.

The way to drive toxic communities back to the fringes of society is to build and support healthy ones.

> The way to drive toxic communities back to the fringes of society is to build and support healthy ones.

Also useful gardening advice.

Yes including toxic churches, soccer teams and anime forums. Humans being humans and all that.

Plenty of people prefer to be victims in group than alone though. We are weird creatures.

What exactly is a toxic community? How does one identify that they are in one?

Toxic is contextual to an individual. Some products don't affect all life forms the same way, or at the same dose. Same for communities: you know if you are in a toxic one if you can objectively observe it brings unacceptable suffering to you when you are in it.

It's not precise science, it's subjective, and sometimes hard to identify.

Same with abusing relationships.