Investigating The Alt-Right Pipeline
Chelsea Evans
Rationale
After last week’s class, I again found myself intrigued in learning more about this right wing rabbit hole people find themselves stuck in. Videos like Vox’s “Why White Supremacists Love Tucker Carlson” or “The Alt-Right Playbook” by Innuendo Studios highlight this issue. Groups like QAnon, The Proud Boys, or hardcore Trump supporters are often at the center of alt-right groups.
Research Question
After furthering my research in the realm of right-wing groups and fringe movements, I found myself wondering- how did these people first get involved in the alt-right world? There are so many different ways they could have been introduced, whether it be via micro celebrities like Tucker Carlson, forum sites like 4Chan or 8Chan, friends, family, school, or elsewhere. In my research, I would like to determine common ways that people found themselves down the alt-right rabbit hole.
Proposed Methodology
For the purpose of this research, I think it would be more beneficial to focus on those who are actively involved in alt-right communities rather than those who just passively participate. I found inspiration for this research in a YouTube channel called Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan. In his videos, Callaghan goes to the center of several alt-right events such as the “White Lives Matter” rally in Huntington Beach, California this year, and even the QAnon sponsored event, “God and Country Patriot Round Up” in Dallas. At these events, Callaghan interviews attendees and often is met with really bizarre conversations, and people willing to disclose a lot to a total stranger. I think that by following a similar format to this, I would be able to answer my research question and determine how these people came to find themselves at said events.
Prior to the events I would create a list of research questions I would like to ask participants. The following sample questions give a brief look at what they would be like: How did you hear about this event? Did anybody you follow promote this event? What made you interested in attending this event? Who are you looking forward to hearing speak this weekend? What ideas shared at this event do you identify with? How did you first get interested in this? What led you to be here today?
After developing sample questions, I would need to determine the method in which I will choose interviewees and how to present the questions to them. In order to be unbiased, I think it would be best to not select individual people but rather approach large groups of people and see who would be willing to discuss. I will obtain consent and try to show that I have no set agenda by asking attendees, “Can I talk with you about the event today?” I think it would also be helpful if I dressed casually. Many people at these alt-right events dress in t-shirts with offensive slogans, make America great again merchandise, and American flags galore. Showing up in casual attire rather than a formal interview outfit would make me seem more trustworthy to them.
To start, I would plan 2–3 events to attend in which I can interview alt-right community members. “For God & Country Patriot Revival” is an event being held February 18–21, 2022 in Las Vegas. It is sponsored by right-wing group The Patriot Voice and is being promoted as a “QAnon event”. Featuring keynote speaker, QAnon believer Lin Wood. The location of this event is to be determined as many hotels are not allowing the movement to be hosted on their property. I think attending this would be a great start to the research as it would likely be a hub for my key demographic.
With me, I would bring a list of research questions, a microphone or device to record audio on, and potentially a camera person. I do think filming the interviews could prove helpful when reviewing the results later as body language and appearance tell us a lot. However, I don’t think it is absolutely necessary to answer the main question of determining how alt-right community members became involved. Plus, I think if I do bring a camera person to record, many may not want to be on camera and then I would likely need to obtain filming permits and consent to be on camera.
It would be most helpful to attend these events for either the full duration or make sure to conduct interviews both day and night to get a full range of those who attend. I will walk around the event and plan on speaking to ideally as many people as are willing to discuss. By remaining casual in my approach, I hope attendees feel unintimidated and comfortable engaging in conversation with me. I will ask 1–2 background questions such as how they heard of the event first and then ask them the key question of how they became interested in this sort of ideology. Interviews will ideally be between 3–6 minutes each and I hope to obtain 20 per day of the event.
Following the interviews, I will organize all of my data into a spreadsheet to see if the results revealed any patterns or overlaps. This research could be limited to just one event or continued at another one which would be more helpful. I think it also has potential to be an ongoing, developing project.
Predicted Outcomes
From the videos watched in class, my own personal research, and what I have seen in my own life, I believe there will be a handful of similar answers when asking people how they got involved in alt-right spaces. Conservative hosts like Tucker Carlson, Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, are one the outcomes I would definitely expect to see. I assume that many of these participants consume media from sources like those hosts or platforms like Breitbart or Infowars. They may have started watching just for entertainment, or it’s possible that they just were unaware they were watching such biased content. This is similar to what we saw in the micro-celebrity research article. Using entertaining, charismatic hosts is just one way the alt-right can draw people in.
I also predict that many members of alt-right communities first became involved due to falling victim to disinformation. Whether it be disguised on a cloaked website, or even on a fake news site, often people with not much media literacy are just looking for answers but not being able to find reliable sources can send them in a dangerous direction. This plays into computational propaganda, if your algorithm sees you engage in this sort of content you will just be pushed further down the rabbit hole.
It would also not be surprising to see if many people were first introduced via family or friends. I think this research question could also lead to other questions such as what is the gender breakdown in alt-right spaces? By discovering the reason why people first engage in the alt-right, we could track patterns and potentially use the research to monitor centers or hate online.
Resources:
The Alt-Right Playbook: How to Radicalize a Normie. (2019, October 21). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P55t6eryY3g
Callaghan, A. [Channel 5]. (2021a, May 25). White Lives Matter Rally [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMswepvHBAA
Callaghan, A. [Channel 5]. (2021b, July 29). Q Conference [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYKOLwt8pwo&t=1s
Lewis, R. (2019). “This Is What the News Won’t Show You”: YouTube Creators and the Reactionary Politics of Micro-celebrity. Television & New Media, 21(2), 201–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476419879919
Maza, C. (2017, July 21). Why white supremacists love Tucker Carlson. Vox. https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/7/21/16008190/strikethrough-white-supremacists-love-tucker-carlson
McCool, F. (2021). Opinion: The Dangers of Online Alt-Right Politics. The Wire. https://thewpwire.org/5937/showcase/opinion-the-dangers-of-online-alt-right-politics/
Patriot Revival. (2021). Patriot Voice. https://thepatriotvoice.us/the-patriot-revival/
