Abstract
Incels have existed online for a very long time, but as social media grows and affords a so called “third place” for communities to connect outside of being physically together, there is a risk of how many people, including adolescents, are gaining access to the ideology. This paper aims to look at what incels are, the communities they have created & the dangerous nature of them, how social media has allowed for constant redistribution of the media and what exactly these companies are doing to prevent it from their sites.
Introduction
The involuntarily celibate, or simply ‘Incels’ as they are more commonly referred to, have existed in online spaces for a long time. Incels are anti-feminism, with a nature that is aggressive and angry due to their inability to create romantic and sexual relationships with women. It has become apparent through the further rise of social media, that incel groups are increasing but perhaps are not sticking out to those who would condemn them due to such specific and personal algorithmic social media. Social networking sites have introduced strategies to rid their platforms of the problematic and radicalised behaviours such as review and report systems, but too often hate speech and posts of a violent nature slip through the cracks of these implemented limitations. In addition to problematic content being missed is also the reposting and redistribution of incel centric content from influential social figures such as Andrew Tate, who aid in validating incel ideology of masculine superiority. Most people have become well aware by using any social media that there are a lot of young, and impressionable users on the app who are engaging in unmonitored content by their parents and caregivers, and so it poses a risk of exposing them to harmful incel driven content that promotes misogyny, violence against women, and general bigotry. Due to the overall surge in social media use, it has become apparent that social networking platforms have made it easy for men choosing to identify as involuntarily celibate (incel) to create a third place in which they can engage in and spread harmful ideology on such accessible platforms.
Social Media’s Contribution & Action
Realistically, men cannot be categorised as incels just by any specific attribute. Men of all different races, ethnicities, as well as religious backgrounds, sexual orientations or age ranges actively participate in incel culture and agree with the ideology (Radicalisation Awareness Network, 2021). Regardless of any societal barriers that may differentiate them, incels will band together over the common goal of opposing feminism and secluding women from any spaces they are in (Ging, 2017). Ging (2017) says that despite their position within society, incel men will view themselves as an oppressed group with a plethora of ideology that validates these feelings. This includes the idea that it is predetermined that someone’s place in society will be due to genetics. Such as if they are not traditionally masculine or attractive, they therefore cannot and will not attract women because women only want to be with hyper-masculine and successful men. They also feel oppressed by the concept of gynocentrism, which in short is the idea that society is structured to only benefit women and therefore disadvantage men (Radicalisation Awareness Network, 2021). Social media has afforded users a new kind of “third place” beyond traditional gathering spots, so communities can thrive despite any distance. The incel community was created to be a supportive online community of people feeling defeated because they are not having sex, but somewhere along that line it became violent and very misogynistic (Glace et al., 2021) and incels remain very prolific online.
But it now poses the question of how social networking sites have contributed over time to ever growing incel communities. Incel content is more common on some social networking than others, and incels tend to be plentiful on sites that are less restrictive and can be self-moderated. Hern (2021) says that sites 4chan and 8kun have a sizable amount of incels on their platforms because of loose moderation. The reputation of these particular sites comes with revelation that the extremely lax moderation resulted in vulgar, extremist content ranging from videos to harmful speech (Greengard, 2022). 4chan was shut down in 2019 (Internet matters, 2022) and 8kun seems to be inaccessible from google searches. But the axing of these sites has not stopped incels as they move their communities to other social networking platforms. Reddit is another forum based social networking that is loosely monitored and allows a lot of explicit content on its site. Reddit has had an unfortunate history of previously being associated with hateful online communities, including incels. And whilst popular incel subreddits have been deleted due to media attention (Gillett & Suzor, 2022), with such large numbers of users and over 130,000 active subreddits (Flynn, 2022) it is possible that copycat incel subreddits could be flying under the radar. Negligence to incel content on social media can lead to extremely horrific circumstances, such as the Plymouth shooting in 2021. Offender Jake Davidson was a self-confessed incel who was obsessed with the culture and mass killings. But it was only a few hours before the attacks that his Reddit account got suspended for breaking site policy (Hern, 2021).
So, what are social networking sites actively doing to ensure they are eliminating violent content and posts from being accessed by users?
Instagram outlines in their community guidelines they take measures over content shared to their platform that may insight violence or is hate speech (Instagram Help Centre, n.d.). TikTok details that any organised hate group and speech is not to be permitted onto the site and will be banned (TikTok, n.d.). YouTube condemns violent content and hate speech and says it will terminate channels for repeated violation (YouTube, n.d.). Whilst these commonly used social medias can enact protective rules, and review content where necessary, it is still possible incel content will be missed and constantly reuploaded or mimicked.
Redistribution of Incel Media
Whilst reposting and redistribution of media is not a new concept, social media sites have afforded users even simpler ways to spread media second hand. Some social networking sites have dedicated reposting features which allows media to reach new and further audiences. So whilst the power of the retweet, the repost or the reupload can be used for good, if unmoderated properly, redistribution of harmful content can slip through the cracks and algorithmically reach exactly the intended audiences. Therefore meaning it may not be reported and taken down leaving it open to reach even the youngest of internet users. Popular among young men online, even those who do not identify as incels, is social media personality Andrew Tate. Tate’s videos have been reposted profusely by accounts not associated with him, like fan accounts, even despite some social media bans on his content due to its harmful nature (Wilson, 2022). Axis (2023) says that the appeal of Andrew Tate’s image is his masculinity. Incel men value masculinity greatly and become reactive when women are progressive within society, particularly within workplaces or the personal life of the incel (Scaptura & Boyle, 2019). The firm belief of women’s inferiority and the desire to be opposition to feminism is a result of the “Black Pill Theory” in which Lindsay (2022) states is when men begin to believe that the world favours women and begrudges low-status men like themselves. This idea takes inspiration from the “Red Pill Theory” that supposedly awakens men to the oppressions of males within society due to feminism and supposed female superiority (Lindsay, 2022). These theories are structured to fit narratives of how hierarchical attractiveness and the position of women and feminism within society is the reason for why incel men are unsuccessful in their pursuit of relationships. And are further emphasised when engaging within social communities that incels and incel content either lurk or have large presences in, such as the material of that from Andrew Tate.
Some incels have become violent in their radicalisation. This became apparent after a mass killing in 2014 by a college student fulfilling his “day of retribution” for never having romantic or sexual relationships with women (Scaptura & Boyle, 2019). The attack was followed by another incel driven mass attack in Toronto in 2018 when a man drove a van through a crowd, prompted by his hatred of women (Lindeman, 2022). And beyond Andrew Tate there are other powerfully placed men who through social networking have established themselves as very anti-female, which appeals to incels and their overall desire to preserve masculinity and half blame their celibacy on feminism. Jordan Peterson, another public figure, voiced that he understood the position of the murderer of the 2018 attack (Southey, 2018). Southey (2018) said that the reaction and response from Jordan Peterson was received well by the incel community as it validated their feelings. Peterson affirmed an incel ideology that the most attractive of men take all the women therefore this is why the rest of the men are being rejected, particularly for sex. Jordan Petersons solution to this? All the attractive men would run out and consequently women would just “have to settle” for incels (Southey, 2018). The implication of this all is that if women were just to have sex and engage in relationships with incel men than they would be less angry, and therefore not be committing violent hate crimes. Criticism followed these comments made by Jordan Peterson, but none the less it is still accessible and can be redistributed to reach multitudes of men susceptible to incel culture, including adolescents.
Susceptibility of Adolescents
Whilst most social media and networking sites have age restrictions, typically of around age 13 and older, it is not uncommon that children even younger than this are consuming incel content online. And unmonitored content at that. O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson (2011) say that social media use for young people becomes problematic for several reasons but put emphasis on exposure to inappropriate content. It is easy to argue that incel content in any form is inappropriate and should not be viewed by someone who is as impressionable as a child. Impressionability in this case is the notion of being vulnerable to an environment that poses risky health behaviours (Gwon & Jeong, 2018). Overconsumption of social media at a young age is unhealthy, and furthermore algorithms of social media exposing young people to incel driven content is also unhealthy and problematic right to its core. TikTok for example has algorithms that are very complex with users being served content that will specifically interest them, and because of the apps addictive qualities it can lead to hours of on end scrolling for many people (Schellewald, 2021). This means for anyone interacting with incel content, they could be putting themselves in a metaphorical bubble of radicalisation.
Think about this “bubble” when it is a young pre-teen or teenage boy who is feeling validated by his first exposure to the content, so he keeps interacting and therefore being given more by the algorithm. Lindsay (2022) mentions that in a forum of incel men, one described radicalisation as a process that begins on incel social networking and then stumbling across the red and black pill theories, ending in the idea that inferior men are ill-fated. Simply put, incel men feel that because they are not ‘Chads’, which are the most attractive of men, the world is against them, and they will never be sexually or romantically involved with women (Lindsay, 2022). If the most impressionable of people are constantly consuming these ideas of anti-feminism and incel ideology because social networking allows for it, then it becomes difficult to find a point of return.
Conclusion
To conclude, it has become apparent that incel culture is rife and because of the accessibility and convenience of creating active networks and communities online, it has become easy for incels to become prevalent in internet spaces. This therefore means that incel ideology, which is extremely harmful, has the ability to reach a large amount of people and possibly radicalise more men. Glace et al. (2021) says that the men in incel communities will degrade women and be violently misogynistic whilst resenting their lack of relationships with women. The ideas that incels have, their behaviours and at times their desire to be violent has proven burdensome on society far too long now. And despite public condemnation, nothing has been enough to put a stop to the spread of their radical behaviours. The rise of social networking use has made it easy for the involuntary celibate to create a third place to share harmful ideology and culture to people from near and far. From now it is up to social media sites to enact harsher restrictions and penalties on the posting and redistribution of incel content in an attempt to help remove it completely from their sites.
References
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