New Social Media and the Far-Right: Recruitment, Mobilisation and Community on Gab.com

This paper explores the English-speaking far-right communities on the alternative social networking platform Gab.com. It analyses how the platform is used to facilitate collective action by the far right, as well as develop a sense of shared identity among supporters. We expect that Gab.com is populated by a significant share of key far-right figures and organisations throughout the anglosphere, who use the platform to engage with and mobilise their supporters. We pose the question: How does the anglophone far-right use the alternative social networking platform Gab.com to facilitate collective action and develop a virtual community? The paper contributes to a growing literature on the use of social media by the far right (e.g. Froio & Ganesh, 2018; O’Callaghan et al., 2013), and builds on Zannettou et al. (2018) to explore Gab. The use of platforms such as Gab help the far-right connect with supporters and provide important opportunities for recruitment (Caiani & Kluknavská, 2017) creating new ways for supporters to participate. The development of a shared identity through cyber communities,such as those developed on Gab, are vital to mobilization (Caiani & Borri, 2014; De Koster & Houtman, 2008). Using qualitative content analysis, we identify the key functions (recruitment, mobilization and community construction) and core grievances for the far-right on the platform. We expect to identify distinct practices of recruitment and mobilisation of far-right supporters via the platform, which align with offline protest action. The characterisation of Gab.com as a far-right space is anticipated to be reflected in the grievances voiced, with narratives such as embattled whiteness central in developing a sense of collective identity among the far-right community