‘Nothing Can Stop What’s Coming’: An analysis of the conspiracy theory discourse on 4chan’s /Pol board

IF 2.4 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Discourse & Society Pub Date : 2022-11-25 DOI:10.1177/09579265221136731

Bradley E. Wiggins

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

This article presents evidence of a conspiracy theory discourse on the anonymous messaging board 4chan, specifically /pol as in politically incorrect. Previous research shows 4chan lacks a coherent political discourse. Recent research suggests that the site is at least a reliable source of white supremacism within a larger framework of conspiratorial thinking. Grounded theory guides a systematic analysis of posts from 4chan’s /pol board during the dates third to ninth January 2021, before and after the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Following Trump’s call to supporters to Stop the Steal (referring to unsubstantiated claims of a fraudulent 2020 election), the search terms steal and Trump collected all posts in threads with matching posts. A critical discourse analysis investigates the presence and articulation of conspiracism in selected posts. Findings reveal confirmation with previous research about the apparent lack of ideological coherence on/pol yet also affirms the discourse of white supremacism. Additionally, a diversity of conspiracism functions as a primary form of communication on 4chan regardless of one’s loyalty to a particular political ideology.

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“什么也挡不住”:对4chan /Pol论坛上阴谋论话语的分析

这篇文章提供了匿名消息板4chan上阴谋论言论的证据，特别是/pol在政治上不正确。先前的研究表明4chan缺乏连贯的政治话语。最近的研究表明，在阴谋思维的更大框架内，该网站至少是白人至上主义的可靠来源。有根据的理论指导了对2021年1月3日至9日，即美国国会大厦未遂暴动前后4chan/政治委员会帖子的系统分析。在特朗普呼吁支持者停止偷窃（指的是2020年选举舞弊的未经证实的说法）之后，搜索词“偷窃”和特朗普将所有帖子收集到了匹配帖子的帖子中。批判性话语分析调查了在选定的帖子中阴谋主义的存在和表达。研究结果证实了先前关于/pol明显缺乏意识形态连贯性的研究，但也肯定了白人至上主义的话语。此外，无论一个人对特定政治意识形态的忠诚如何，阴谋主义的多样性都是4chan上的主要沟通形式。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Discourse & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

4.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Discourse & Society is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal whose major aim is to publish outstanding research at the boundaries of discourse analysis and the social sciences. It focuses on explicit theory formation and analysis of the relationships between the structures of text, talk, language use, verbal interaction or communication, on the one hand, and societal, political or cultural micro- and macrostructures and cognitive social representations, on the other hand. That is, D&S studies society through discourse and discourse through an analysis of its socio-political and cultural functions or implications. Its contributions are based on advanced theory formation and methodologies of several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.