Analyzing the Interaction Between Posting Behaviors on Incels.is and Violent Events Perpetrated by Members of the Community

ABSTRACT

Incels.is, a popular forum for incels or involuntary celibates, has faced an increasing level of recognition for its association with acts of mass violence and domestic terrorism. Despite this, posts on incel forums claim that the group is averse to violence. This study aims to examine whether there are significant differences in user interaction between posts that occur before and after actualized violence perpetrated by the incel community. The results find that users are not significantly more likely to engage with posts after an attack. Although interaction, as measured by replies/views does not increase significantly, the number of post views alone significantly increases after an event, which could be attributed to more users unrelated to the incel community seeking information regarding the attack perpetrators. Additionally, as proximity to an attack increases, post interaction increases, suggesting encouragement of violence before an attack and lingering discussion after as users react to the violent spread of their ideologies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ This is a common topic of discussion on incel-related forums. For one example, see https://incels.is/threads/the-femcel-revolution.322169/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J. J West

J. J West (she/her) is a PhD student at American University in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology where she studies male supremacy, incels, and right-wing extremism. JJ received her MS in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently works as a Graduate Student Researcher at PERIL alongside her dog, Tofu.