UCLA

Narratives of Internet transparency, coupled with the resurgence of White Supremacism and Nationalism in public discourses have highlighted the role that technological affordances play in co-constituting particular ways of being online. Based on online fieldwork conducted over ten months, this thesis explores the various ideological processes that inform highly explicit and transgressive language on “Politically Incorrect” – /pol/ – a politics-centered discussion board on infamous website 4chan.org. The three most central dimensions evoked by anonymous users (“Anons”) in everyday interaction and performance – that of race, anti-Semitism, and gender and sexuality – are identified herein to better understand 1) the various oppositional alignments taken against discursively-produced “others”, 2) how Anons evoke and legitimize a dominant language ideology of transgression more broadly, and 3) the interplay of media ideologies in these co-productive processes. I lastly conclude by proposing the concept of hegemonic counterpublics to more accurately frame how these alignments are evoked at strategic moments.