“If Men Acted Like Women Do, There Would Be Riots in the Streets” : Personalized and Collective Action Framing in the Incelopshere

Abstract: In recent years, several high-profile acts of violence linked to the virtual incelosphere have sparked public concern and scholarly interest. Yet, scant attention has been paid to whether these perpetrators can be understood as lone-wolf attackers or as members of a collective. This thesis thus attempts to move beyond discourse to further trace the nexus between ideas within the community and contentious actions to understand whether these are sustained by shared action-oriented frames, and therefore can be understood as part of a social movement repertoire. Additionally, it examines whether such framings adhere to a traditional collective action logic or a digitally mediated connective action logic, utilising personalized reasons for contention. Through a frame analysis of the largest incel forum, I identify two action frames, the sexual injustice frame and the counterfeminism frame. Posters dominantly utilize collective action framings, and while the sexual justice frame is personalizable it is also contingent on a shared collective identity and ideology. These findings indicate that we can view the incelosphere as a collective actor characterized by both connective and collective network logic, thus contributing to our understanding of incels as well as the potential movement dynamics of online communities.