yes.
I don't think they recruit anyone.
I think they produce the environments required for a specific kind of character to manifest out of whosoever wishes to be that character. They can do this without direct contact, downside is you have to start with a large demographic and incrementally step down into smaller and smaller demographics eventually isolating one individual who at that stage only needs to be promoted and fed followers. They then can lead from behind the actions of that character through encouragement, praise and so on. Useful idiots I believe is the term used.