The Gift of Gab: A Netnographic Examination of the Community Building Mechanisms in Far-Right Online Space
Abstract
Major social media platforms have recently taken a more proactive stand against harmful far-right content and pandemic-related disinformation on their sites. However, these actions have catalysed the growth of fringe online social networks for participants seeking right-wing content, safe havens, and unhindered communication channels.
With large amounts of data removed from popular virtual platforms and users congregating in laxly moderated right-wing echo chambers, these developments have created an environment of self-isolated far-right content. To better understand these isolated systems of online activity and their success, I focus on the predominantly right-wing platform Gab.
Guiding the study is the research question: what mechanisms are utilised by the far-right to form an alternative collective on fringe social media? I analyse this query by showcasing how these online communities are built by perpetuating meso-level identity-building narratives alongside the users' communicative experiences. By examining fringe media's emphasis in creating its lasting community base and Gab's subsequent success as a social media network, the study offers a first-of-its-kind experiential examination of the different communications and multimedia within the platform via a netnographic and qualitative content analysis lens.
The emergent findings and discussion detail the far-right's virtual community-building model, revolving around its sense of in-group superiority and the self-reinforcing mechanisms of collective. Not only does this have implications for understanding Gab's communicative dynamics, but it also reflects the need for researchers to (re)emphasise identity, community, and collectives in far-right fringe spaces.