They might start out saying something just as a sick joke, and then they would get so much positive reinforcement for that joke, so many meaningless "internet points," as they called it, that they might start believing their own joke.
처음에는 농담 식으로  한마디씩 던지는 게 생각보다 많은 호응을 얻으면서 그 공간에서 유명해져가죠. 그리고 그들은 자신의  농담을 실제로 믿게 됩니다.