I don’t remember the exact quote and I can’t find it, but I recall someone describing a similar problem on 4chan itself. There’s a thing that happens, in communities that emphasize edgy humor, to newcomers who don’t get the jokes and confuse them for genuine beliefs. Those who find them repulsive leave and don’t return, while those who find them tolerable (as genuine beliefs) stick around and have those beliefs normalized and reinforced. Over time, the sincere believers come to outnumber the jokers, and what was once a lighthearted satirical community becomes a cesspool of bona fide extremism.
I don’t know if it’s a fair analogy; as far as I can remember 4chan was always a cesspool of violence with a flimsy veneer of “it’s just a joke bro”. But I think it would be unwise to assume something like that couldn’t happen in a femcel community.
Stephen Miller is the IRL embodiment of this early 2000s super edgy “humour” forming the basis of an actual political platform. It’s so exhausting because any attempt at engaging with them leads to “I’m just trolling bro.”
Happens a lot. I remember when I could scroll through twitter and not see any nazis.
It’s something I think about a lot with the Fediverse: how to keep the nazis at bay. I think with Reddit, Twitter et al one of the main factors is that nazis also tend to spend money to show their allegiance, which is why you see things like Trump selling fake $1000 bills with his face on it. It’s very profitable to give nazis a space to be awful because they will spend money they don’t have to feel like they’re really part of the club.
I think it comes down to the same rules as running a bar. If nazis come in, you gotta kick them out right away, otherwise before you know it your bar is a nazi bar. I think that’s why “edgy” humor comms are particularly vulnerable, because they’re a good place for nazis to gradually push the envelope in the name of “humor” and once they get a beachhead, they’re hard to stop without decisive action.
I don’t remember the exact quote and I can’t find it, but I recall someone describing a similar problem on 4chan itself. There’s a thing that happens, in communities that emphasize edgy humor, to newcomers who don’t get the jokes and confuse them for genuine beliefs. Those who find them repulsive leave and don’t return, while those who find them tolerable (as genuine beliefs) stick around and have those beliefs normalized and reinforced. Over time, the sincere believers come to outnumber the jokers, and what was once a lighthearted satirical community becomes a cesspool of bona fide extremism.
I don’t know if it’s a fair analogy; as far as I can remember 4chan was always a cesspool of violence with a flimsy veneer of “it’s just a joke bro”. But I think it would be unwise to assume something like that couldn’t happen in a femcel community.
Stephen Miller is the IRL embodiment of this early 2000s super edgy “humour” forming the basis of an actual political platform. It’s so exhausting because any attempt at engaging with them leads to “I’m just trolling bro.”
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/if-youre-listening/stephen-miller-edgelord-in-chief/106305424
This is a big part of how Reddit got radicalized
Happens a lot. I remember when I could scroll through twitter and not see any nazis.
It’s something I think about a lot with the Fediverse: how to keep the nazis at bay. I think with Reddit, Twitter et al one of the main factors is that nazis also tend to spend money to show their allegiance, which is why you see things like Trump selling fake $1000 bills with his face on it. It’s very profitable to give nazis a space to be awful because they will spend money they don’t have to feel like they’re really part of the club.
I think it comes down to the same rules as running a bar. If nazis come in, you gotta kick them out right away, otherwise before you know it your bar is a nazi bar. I think that’s why “edgy” humor comms are particularly vulnerable, because they’re a good place for nazis to gradually push the envelope in the name of “humor” and once they get a beachhead, they’re hard to stop without decisive action.