Date of Award

5-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Anthropology

First Advisor

Elise Edwards

Abstract

The alt-right is an ever-growing presence in American society yet little is known about their strategies for political organizing and engaging and growing their following. Through the popularization of the internet, individuals' ability to access far-right ideology and form communities around it has become increasingly easy. While there have been many attempts to limit alt-right rhetoric online, no such attempts have been made on 4chan.org. That paired with the level of anonymity present on the platform has allowed alt-right rhetoric to flourish with no repercussions. This project takes an ethnographic approach to examine redpill discourse on 4chan’s /pol/ board to better understand group behavior in alt-right digital spaces. Analyzing redpill discourse provides a unique perspective as the term redpill both serves as a verb to describe the recruitment process and as a noun to describe a piece of alt-right ideology. This analysis of redpill discourse provides key insights into community building, ideology construction, and recruitment strategies of the alt-right on 4chan. Better understanding the behavior and beliefs of the alt-right is a critical step to effectively counteract the movement and the hate they propagate.

Download

Share

COinS