I think that's not always the case, at least per the guy who wrote that profile about the gooning discord server. I forgot what his name was or what the article was called, but he was on Trueanon last month or the month before. It seems like there's a few different methods to participate in the subculture, without one specific set of rules. The identity of the subculture is defined by the extent of investment in the activity more than any quality of how they do it. Seems like the main features are the obsessive element, the surrender to the id, and the community aspect.