Correct. The idea isn't to convert anyone, not at once. It's to move them ONE TINY SPOT over. Because if you move all your Active Opponents to Passive Opponents, then they are no longer actively fighting you, which means no one is pushing back at your Active Allies. If you move your Passive Opponents to Neutral, they're off the board. etc etc. It's a LOT easier to get an Active Opponent to shut up, or to force some corporation into making some active show of support, than it is to go full tilt.
They've been doing this for 50+ years. They know exactly how to fuck with societies, governments, companies, fandoms, newspapers, colleges, and people.
Get you to move ONE TINY SPOT over on the spectrum of allies, or move your supporters one spot the other way, or what have you.
And it's not just targeting single enemies, too. Look into something called the Overton Window. It's the same general idea only used to define what political positions and opinions are acceptable to discuss publicly. They've been manipulating it intentionally for about 5-10 years now.