From #Gamergate to DOGE: Toxic Geek Masculinity, the Cult(ure) of Silicon Valley, and the Far Right

Adrienne Massanari

Join us for our latest speaker in the speaker series: Safeguarding Democracy in the Age of AI

Prof Adrienne Massanari will give a talk entitled: From #Gamergate to DOGE: Toxic Geek Masculinity, the Cult(ure) of Silicon Valley, and the Far Right

When: 16th September 2025  10:00 ET/ 16:00-17:30 SAST

Where: Online / UJ on Empire 11th Floor Boardroom

Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94226056297, you will be asked to register and the code will be sent to you via email.

Inquiries:[email protected] 

ABSTRACT: In this talk, drawn from my book Gaming Democracy: How Silicon Valley Leveled Up the Far Right (MIT Press), I discuss the ways geek masculinity and the politics of platforms like Reddit have created a fertile ground for the ascendence of Trumpism. Specifically, I trace the connections between tech entrepreneurs, the “Intellectual Dark Web” (a collection of podcasters, pundits, and provocateurs who dismiss identity politics and champion free speech absolutism), and gamers to explore the ways that games, tech, and social media have become intertwined with far-right politics. I argue that the ultimate goal of these groups is to metagame democracy and undermine our faith in democratic institutions by gaming free speech.

Bio: Adrienne Massanari is an Associate Professor in the Communication Studies division at the School of Communication (American University, USA). Her research interests include digital culture, online communities, platform politics, game studies, pop culture, and gender and race online. Massanari's new book for MIT Press (October 2024), Gaming Democracy: How Silicon Valley Leveled Up the Far Right, discusses how Silicon Valley’s culture and politics contributed to the rise of the far-right. Her 2015 book, Participatory Culture, Community, and Play: Learning from Reddit (Peter Lang), explored the unique culture of Reddit.com. Massanari’s work has appeared in New Media & Society, Feminist Media Studies, Social Media + Society, Journal of Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, and First Monday.