More Than Meets the Reply: Examining Emotional Belonging in Far-Right Social Media Space

Abstract

This article challenges prevailing assumptions that fringe social media platforms predominantly serve as unmoderated hate-filled spaces for far-right communication by examining the userbase's emotional connection to these environments. Focusing on Gab Social, a popular alternative technology website with affordances akin to Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit, and its subgroup, 'Introduce Yourself', the research investigates how participants discuss their attachment and sense of membership within a far-right online community. Employing a constructivist grounded theory approach and a thick data mixed-methods technique encompassing netnography and sentiment analysis, I uncover the complex and impassioned narratives underlying users' sense of emotional belonging on the platform. The resulting findings demonstrate how counter-mainstream media acts as a unifying force by catering to the social needs of participants seeking an in-group of like-minded individuals. Moreover, I argue that fringe social media platforms offer participants far more than mainstream platforms, providing a positive interactive environment and a new virtual home for those feeling rejected and antagonised by other communities, institutions, and organisations, both online and offline. Therefore, the work offers valuable empirical insights into the emotional emphasis participants place on fringe social media and its implications for fostering attachment, community formation, and identity construction within far-right online counterpublics.