[publication] The Internet Hate Machine: on the Weird Collectivity of Anonymous Far-Right Groups

Sal Hagen and Marc Tuters published a chapter in the book Rise of the Far-Right: Technologies of Recruitment and Mobilization, edited by Melody Devries, Judith Bessant, and Rob Watts.

Order the book here.

The chapter, “The Internet Hate Machine: on the Weird Collectivity of Anonymous Far-Right Groups”, touches on the peculiar way members of anonymous imageboards collectivise. It imports insights from social psychology, notably with the term ‘entitativity’, to consider how ‘anons’ on 4chan imagine or perform themselves as a homogenous entity. It then presents an empirical case study, touching on how self-referential discussions on the far-right 4chan/pol/ about journalistic accounts of 4chan serve a constitutive role in their own “weird collectivity”.

An image from the chapter.

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