Comment 18 by Metamag :

Comment 17 by esuther :

Not being able to remain silent (a common writer’s weakness) I confront some woo peddler or other almost every day, and my comment often elicits an entire dispute. Even if it begins in a civil way, which is about half the time, the discussion soon becomes soured by the believer’s sense of outrage.

LOL, I do this all the time on completely unrelated gaming forums(in off-topic subforums or if someone brings something up in other subforums) and such. Glad to see I'm not the only one.

The worst thing atheists can do online is exclusively comment on atheist blogs, websites and youtube channels. Many atheists don't even realize how pointless this virtual ghettoization is. The worst example being PZ Myers' blog with hundreds of comments, just imagine if that effort was put on mainstream websites and articles.

Basic common sense.

The same can be said for any minority. I belong to 5 minorities, and they all tend to do this. Lesbians hang out on lesbian sites, AA folks hang out on sites for people of color, gender variant people hang out on trans boards, et al, you get the picture. It does no good, but when you are so marginalized in the rest of wider society, you search out a haven of people like yourself.

P.S. esuther, I am a writer as well. Currently writing a book on how I became an atheist.