Originally Posted by
Gaethan_Tessula
If I remember correctly, the term was originally used by organizers to describe armchair activists who cared more for Facebook likes or Twitter followers than actually assisting with collective action or turning out to protests. Aka pretty much exactly what you said.
The right seized upon the term to paint all social activists as hysterical, self-righteous, vain, and/or dogmatic troublemakers, and 'marketed' that usage of the term to certain demographics trending towards the center and center-right. This was paired with cherry picked footage, usually light or misleading in context, displaying fervent college age students who had probably just been through a sociology 101 class, but lacked rhetorical sophistication and media/optics savy.
The left then tried to reclaim the term in an entirely positive light this time around.
Meanwhile, those with a poor grasp of politics began to expand and expand the usage of the term until it became an effectively meaningless insult applicable to the vague category of "things I don't like."