Murphy was at least small time enough to be kinda believable. Like his following was tiny relatively, with seemingly only maybe a thousand across the nation who were all using it as networking. One of the guys who attended posted on the farms during the blowup and, if memory serves, he talked about how little Murphy was even factored in beyond the setup.

Compared to Tate who was supposedly so massive that teachers were having to fight with students who all worshiped him because his influence had permeated their entire worldview. Which much more reeks of manufactured, especially with the whole Greta and pizzabox thing which feel far too "perfectly dramatic" and right into their worldview for this kind of story.