This week Elizabeth is joined by Ryan Tsapatsaris for a discussion about the complex world of online communities focused on aggression and hate. We draw insights from the book Social Processes of Online Hate as well as Ryan’s own research and expertise in the area. While most of us assume that attackers are laser focused on their targets and on affecting some change, the evidence suggests that attackers are more interested in themselves and in impressing one another. Far more time is spent celebrating, reminiscing, cross-posting, and bragging about their own behaviors than on discussing their target or the target’s behaviors.  Ryan shares examples and his knowledge about platforms like 4chan, the dynamics of anonymity and status, subculture language, and the gamification of online cancellations.  We also spend time talking about “concern trolling” and explore why it works particularly well when directed toward a university or organization. Listen while we work to unpack online hate and its implications for society.

Podcast notes

Ryan’s article on 4chan: https://oilab.eu/the-bakers-guild-the-secret-order-countering-4chans-affordances/  

OILab, an Amsterdam-based network of interdisciplinary scholars scrutinizing political subcultures on the fringe corners of the Web: https://oilab.eu/

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture by Whitney Phillips: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262529877/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/

Cancel Culture: Tales from the Front Lines by Paul du Quenoy: https://www.academicapress.com/node/523

Walther J. B., Rice R. E. (Eds). (2025). Social process of online hate. Routledge: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/92521