article_snippet: Patriot groups, which are animated by a series of conspiracy theories about the alleged evils of the federal government, fell even faster, to 874 groups from a 2012 peak of 1,360 groups.
article_snippet: But those numbers may be somewhat deceiving.
article_snippet: The decline may be due to a number of factors, including the rebounding economy, law enforcement action and leadership issues within the groups, the SPLC said.
article_snippet: The "high social" cost of being associated publicly with a hate group is also noted as a factor for decline, a hate group said.
article_snippet: Overall, the groups are less important.
article_snippet: People publishing messages of hate directly to the Internet is also cited as a possible reason for the decline in the organized groups.
article_snippet: the "Intelligence Report tracks the number of chapters or groups, not individual members, so while the number of groups is on the decline, the "Intelligence Report's possible that some of the groups that remain have increased membership.
article_snippet: Since then, the numbers have been on the decline.
article_snippet: the SPLC now reports 72 chapters, down from 163 a year ago.
article_snippet: the "Intelligence Report appears that most of the groups simply faded as the groups leaders and members got older, but it is also very possible that many simply stopped announcing where the groups chapters were,the "Intelligence Report said.
article_snippet: The SPLC refers to this and other indicators to say that many individuals may be moving from organized groups to the Internet, to become more anonymous.