I was fortunately already a communist and an when GamerGate took off, so at that point I could immediately see through all the bullshit.

But during the direct pre-cursor of that era, the so called New Atheism era (2004-2014), I did go down the "militant atheist" pipeline, which was rife with islamophobes and sexists. That era ended up spawning both the reactionary anti-SJW pipeline and the progressive ones that were in opposition post-GamerGate.

I think what probably helped me avoid the anti-SJW pipeline, is that despite considering myself a militant atheist and a progressive lib from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, I was still very critical of capitalism. I just didn't know anything about socialism and communism yet, as I went to a few Occupy protests to show solidarity. I also remember spamming Facebook with infographics criticizing capitalist greed, and articles about the destruction in Syria at the beginning of the civil war, because the MSM was ignoring it. It took a few years before I realized I was not a anymore, which coincidentally happened at the same time as GamerGate and the whole reactionary backlash to progressive politics began.

So yeah, I guess I was lucky. It makes sense that becoming more class conscious and anti-imperialist helps you become more resistant to reactionary trash.