ABSTRACT
This paper employs digital ethnographic methods to explore the Facebook fan group for the popular podcast My Favorite Murder. We argue that the My Favorite Murder podcast and Facebook group, while providing a potentially unique feminist online space for its members in its early days, quickly devolved into a toxic space rife with conflict and ultimately destroyed by white-centred feminism and white supremacy. We explore failed gatekeeping practices in relation to other Facebook podcast fan groups that have met a similar demise. Finally, we question whether truly inclusive anti-racist feminist spaces can exist in capitalistic models of media production and consumption.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jennifer Billinson
Jennifer Billinson (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Media at Nazareth College with a research focus on digital media culture and popular music.
Bek Orr
Bek Orr (they/them) is an Assistant Professor of Womens’ and Gender Studies and Sociology at SUNY Brockport. Their methodological expertise is digital ethnographies with a research focus on LGBTQIA+ cultures, histories, and archives.