There's some pattern of creating those sorts of environments.

Maybe it's the opposite, a community like reddit if You're banned or maybe shamed or even down voted for an ignorant take, not even a bad faith argument, maybe that user stays on Reddit but joins a different subreddit that new subreddit may be more likely to indulge in that viewpoint, maybe even sarcastically.

While on small websites I think a user in that case might just be dissuaded from engaging in the community outright.

I don't believe gamergate to be a special thing, just oxygen, fuel, and a spark.