Gun Culture in Fringe Social Media
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2024
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| _version_ | 1866913271343218688 |
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| author | Tahmasbi, Fatemeh Chug, Aakarsha Bradlyn, Barry Blackburn, Jeremy |
| author_facet | Tahmasbi, Fatemeh Chug, Aakarsha Bradlyn, Barry Blackburn, Jeremy |
| contents | The increasing frequency of mass shootings in the United States has, unfortunately, become a norm. While the issue of gun control in the US involves complex legal concerns, there are also societal issues at play. One such social issue is so-called "gun culture," i.e., a general set of beliefs and actions related to gun ownership. However relatively little is known about gun culture, and even less is known when it comes to fringe online communities. This is especially worrying considering the aforementioned rise in mass shootings and numerous instances of shooters being radicalized online.
To address this gap, we explore gun culture on /k/, 4chan's weapons board. More specifically, using a variety of quantitative techniques, we examine over 4M posts on /k/ and position their discussion within the larger body of theoretical understanding of gun culture. Among other things, our findings suggest that gun culture on /k/ covers a relatively diverse set of topics (with a particular focus on legal discussion), some of which are signals of fetishism. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_09254 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Gun Culture in Fringe Social Media Tahmasbi, Fatemeh Chug, Aakarsha Bradlyn, Barry Blackburn, Jeremy Social and Information Networks Computers and Society Physics and Society The increasing frequency of mass shootings in the United States has, unfortunately, become a norm. While the issue of gun control in the US involves complex legal concerns, there are also societal issues at play. One such social issue is so-called "gun culture," i.e., a general set of beliefs and actions related to gun ownership. However relatively little is known about gun culture, and even less is known when it comes to fringe online communities. This is especially worrying considering the aforementioned rise in mass shootings and numerous instances of shooters being radicalized online. To address this gap, we explore gun culture on /k/, 4chan's weapons board. More specifically, using a variety of quantitative techniques, we examine over 4M posts on /k/ and position their discussion within the larger body of theoretical understanding of gun culture. Among other things, our findings suggest that gun culture on /k/ covers a relatively diverse set of topics (with a particular focus on legal discussion), some of which are signals of fetishism. |
| title | Gun Culture in Fringe Social Media |
| topic | Social and Information Networks Computers and Society Physics and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.09254 |