Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America

by Joan Donovan, Emily Dreyfuss, Brian Friedberg

Overview

A groundbreaking investigation into the digital underworld, where far-right operatives wage wars against mainstream America, from a masterful trio of experts in media and tech.

Memes have long been dismissed as inside jokes with no political importance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Memes are bedrock to the strategy of conspiracists such as Alex Jones, provocateurs like Milo Yiannopoulos, white nationalists like Nick Fuentes, and tacticians like Roger Stone. While the media and most politicians struggle to harness the organizing power of the internet, the “redpill right” weaponizes memes, pushing conspiracy theories and disinformation into the mainstream to drag people down the rabbit hole. These meme wars stir strong emotions, deepen partisanship, and get people off their keyboards and into the streets—and the steps of the US Capitol.

Meme Wars is the first major account of how “Stop the Steal” went from online to real life, from the wires to the weeds. Leading media expert Joan Donovan, PhD, veteran tech journalist Emily Dreyfuss, and cultural ethnographer Brian Friedberg pull back the curtain on the digital war rooms in which a vast collection of antiesablishmentarians bond over hatred of liberal government and media. Together as a motley reactionary army, they use memes and social media to seek out new recruits, spread ideologies, and remake America according to their desires.

A political thriller with the substance of a rigorous history, Meme Wars is the astonishing story of how extremists are yanking our culture and politics to the right. And it's a warning that if we fail to recognize these powerful undercurrents, the great meme war for the soul of America will soon be won.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635578638
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	310,898
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Joan Donovan, PhD, is the research director of Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center and one of the foremost experts on media and disinformation in the world. Emily Dreyfuss is a journalist who covers the intersection of society and technology for publications such as WIRED, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, among others, and the co-lead of the Harvard Shorenstein Center News Leaders summit. Brian Friedberg is an ethnographer at Harvard Kennedy School researching fringe political communities online and has published definitive Qanon explainers in WIRED and The Hill. Together, the authors work on Harvard Kennedy School's Technology and Social Change Research project out of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Authors' Note vii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 We Are the 99 Percent 23

Chapter 2 A Safe Space for Hate 49

Chapter 5 Gamers Rise Up 78

Chapter 4 Troll in Chief 108

Chapter 5 He Will Not Divide Us 156

Chapter 6 Unite the Right 184

Chapter 7 Joker Politics 212

Chapter 8 These People Are Sick 239

Chapter 9 Fuck Around and Find Out 269

Chapter 10 Stop the Steal 303

Epilogue 333

Acknowledgments 337

Notes 339

Image Credits 407

Index 413

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2022

Internet subcultures have transformed U.S. politics and hijacked collective discourse, according to this informative survey. Sociologist Donovan, journalist Dreyfuss, and ethnographer Friedberg document how the speed, connectivity, and algorithmic sorting of the internet created alternative media ecosystems in which self-described “digital soldiers” propagated sexist, racist, and antisemitic ideologies. When this loosely affiliated antiestablishment movement—dubbed the “red-pilled right” by the authors—transformed their online appeals into insurgent actions in the real world, they garnered news coverage that generated more online reactions and further plans for action. These “meme wars” are accelerated and amplified by a communications infrastructure that prioritizes sensationalism over accuracy, facilitates community building, has a low barrier to entry, and offers few consequences for participation in fringe discourse. The authors examine these dynamics at play on 4chan’s Politically Incorrect message board, the misogynist blogs of the “manosphere,” and other “safe spaces for hate”; they also detail lessons learned by the alt-right from the Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter movements, document the origins of QAnon, and contend that a “steady diet” of “mimetic warfare” culminated in the January 6 Capitol riot. Clear-eyed and persuasive, this is an alarming look at how internet culture has imperiled democracy. Photos. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"A punchy exploration about how alt-right blogs and forums burst into real life and how an elementary form of propaganda evolved from distasteful humor to a political ideology. Best to leave on the shelf if you’re not into cursing." - Bloomberg

"Fascinating and frightening … [the authors'] in-depth, detailed and not-easily-dismissed thesis should be a must-read for anyone who is concerned about our future … It is also a testimonial to the immense power of images to shape and define the conversation in ways that are increasingly divorced from reason and rationality." - Bowling Green Daily News

"A convincing argument that the political right has successfully “meme-ified” their arguments, uniting supporters with messages that exclude outsiders, make followers fell smart and included, and simplify complex social issues in appealing ways … for readers curious about the roles played by social media personalities who exploited online ecosystems and fueled existing social divisions prior to the [January 6] attack, Meme Wars offers a great deal of insight." - Science

"Written by three leading disinformation scholars from the Shorenstein Center ... [Meme Wars] examines how former president Donald Trump emboldened those “meme warriors” and drew support from their once-fringe networks, laying the groundwork for the “Stop the Steal” movement falsely claiming rampant election fraud in 2020." - The Washington Post

"A discomfiting investigative history of far-right-driven memetic warfare in the United States—a war many may not be aware is even being waged." - Globe & Mail

“Clear-eyed and persuasive, this is an alarming look at how internet culture has imperiled democracy.” —Publishers Weekly

“Meme Wars masterfully tells the story of how America got to be the way it is better than anything I've ever read. Even if you think you know everything about politics or online culture, trust me, you will learn something new. A thrilling, informative tale about our modern world that treats online influencers as the power brokers they literally are.” —Taylor Lorenz, The Washington Post

“Meme Wars unearths a history of the internet that otherwise would have remained buried forever. Analyzing the negative consequences of unchecked power, rapid growth, and the political adoption of social media by bad actors, the authors create a compelling case for redesigning global technologies to serve the public interest.” —Maria Ressa, founder of Rappler and winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize

“Donovan, Dreyfuss, and Friedberg offer a lapidary analysis of the hate machine that has brought us addled insurrectionists, red-pilled extremists, and a generation of nihilists masquerading as political thinkers. An eye-
opening and disturbing read on where the infrastructure of disinformation is taking us.” —Katherine Stewart, author of THE POWER WORSHIPPERS

“An incisive look at the struggles and provocations that are shaping online discourse in the twenty-first century and hastening the corrosion of democracy in the United States.” —Edward Wong, diplomatic correspondent, The New York Times

“Anyone who cares about our politics, its discontents, and its outrages will be grateful to these three gifted and indefatigable researchers. They will shake up your sense of how political discourse works now with their tales built around the effects of the 'infrastructure and incentives' of the internet. 'Meme wars are culture wars, accelerated and intensified,' they write, and can do a number on 'patience, kindness, and understanding.' Friends of these virtues have a lot to learn about how to defend them, and Meme Wars is a great introductory class.” —E.J. Dionne Jr., author of OUR DIVIDED POLITICAL HEART and co-author of 100% DEMOCRACY

From the Publisher