In 2019 the Groyper Army led by political commentator Nicholas J. Fuentes launched a mobilization effort against mainstream conservative figures such as Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro. This ‘Groyper...Show moreIn 2019 the Groyper Army led by political commentator Nicholas J. Fuentes launched a mobilization effort against mainstream conservative figures such as Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro. This ‘Groyper War’ was fought to expose what the Groypers believe to be ‘fake conservatives.’ This research will analyze how this decentralized online movement managed to mobilize and create significant ripples offline. By performing a frame analysis on Fuentes’ three main digital media platforms and the various types of content on them, this research aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the modus operandi of the Groyper movement. This research argues that the Groyper War was able to take place through strategic and robust framing that was built upon a strong foundation of credibilityShow less
The extreme right has been successful in transnationally mobilizing supporters of far-right ideologies online, and one of the platforms where this occurs are anonymous imageboards. This study...Show moreThe extreme right has been successful in transnationally mobilizing supporters of far-right ideologies online, and one of the platforms where this occurs are anonymous imageboards. This study examined the Finnish-language imageboard Ylilauta (Overboard), to analyze how the opponents of the extreme right are framed, and to distinguish the special characteristics of this Finnish context in relation to the wider online extreme right movement. Frame analysis of a discussion thread was conducted via textual analysis of the posted messages and content analysis of the posted visuals. The author demonstrates that the participants operate under a common master frame of the ‘antagonistic political Left’ along with expressing grievances against Muslims, non-whites, feminism and LGBTQ+ rights, environmentalism and the mainstream media. The author argues that while constructing these shared enemies and opposing ideologies, the participants reference phenomena related to the Finnish context to provide support for their arguments, and the Finnish language and meme culture allows for an aggressive adversarial frame construction. The findings offer valuable localized knowledge, which can enhance the overall understanding of this transnational movement.Show less
