This paper examines the convergence of platform-dependent comedy and political commentary through the lens of the “Rogansphere” and the 2024 re-election of Donald Trump. Situating the study within the framework of platformisation, I argue that podcasting comedians have transitioned from mere entertainers to “embedded skeptics” who navigate platformed personality capitalism (Rosamond, 2022). By leveraging an ethos of “roast universalism” — a belief in equal-opportunity offense, paired with strategic sensitivity to platform policies — these actors facilitate both the politicization of comedy and the “comedification” of political discourse. Analysis focuses on two contrasting phenomena: the “Roganisation” of the Austin comedy scene via Tony Hinchcliffe’s podcast Kill Tony, and the emergence of the “Rogan-Hatersphere,” a critical network of YouTube content creators. I argue that, while figures like Rogan and Hinchcliffe utilize “cancel discourses” (Ng, 2022) to frame their alliance with tech billionaires and Trump-adjacent ideologies as a defense of free speech, the Hatersphere acts as a subsequent counter-force. These “personality enforcers” hold comedians accountable, challenging the cynical use of comedy as a depoliticized platform commodity. Ultimately, this research highlights how the unique creative sub-class of podcasting comedians negotiates the boundaries between U.S.-exceptionalist digital values and partisan political influence.
The aim of this paper is to introduce the phrase ‘digital banter’ to describe a highly localised typology of English-language speech that acts to veil xenophobia, misogyny, and other forms of extremism. Via an analysis of various videos on the sacking of British Foreign Secretary Suella Braverman, uploaded to the fringe social media platform Bitchute, this paper reveals certain aspects of the state of British politics and culture vis-à-vis platform norms and sociotechnical Internet subcultures. First, digital banter is a mode of anti-fandom that relies on a vocal dislike for non-white and non-male, seeking to dehumanise and delegitimise the identities and experiences of black and brown female politicians. While the principal point of attention for fan/anti-fan communities has historically been celebrities, politicians are increasingly becoming the focus of digital banter in Internet subcultures. Second, those profiting from political anti-fandom are called “banter merchants”, pointing towards mercantile imperatives that motivate social media creators to accrue influence through political anti-fandom. On Bitchute, serious political discussion is reduced to memetic ecologies of viral trends, rage, and shitposting, whilst signposting users toward a cascade of other platforms, paid subscriptions, and merchandise purchases. This research makes the case, however, that the extreme attitudes and behaviours witnessed on Bitchute are endlessly reproduced and reflected — albeit perhaps more softly and, therefore, more insidiously — throughout the British media ecosystem.
This paper explores the different narratives involved in and surrounding the cancellation of Dutch rapper Ali B, following charges of sexual assault and rape. It does so by drawing on a thematic analysis conducted on 171 articles in Dutch and Belgian media focusing on the court case following his cancellation. The analysis reveals a tripartite narrative being present in B’s representation: First, a narrative presented by himself and thus his self-presentation, picturing him in denial and a victim of cancel culture. Second, there is a narrative presented by the victims, portraying B as a predator and themselves as believable victims. Third, a narrative on B by the judicial system (particularly the public prosecutors) and media further aid his de-celebrification by emphasizing his lack of remorse and denial. Bringing these three narratives together allows us to examine how the mechanisms and dynamics of cancel culture unfold, by scrutinizing how B’s image shifts from a likeable to a despicable, de-celebrified media persona. Researching this cancel case then helps us understand how a celebrity can potentially be de-celebrified by his own cancel discourse and practices, those of his victims, and those of the law and the media.
This paper examines two binary oppositions that are commonly deployed by proponents of blockchains and other decentralised Web (DWeb) technologies: centralisation versus decentralisation and trust versus trustlessness. According to optimistic visions, DWeb technologies empower individuals to exchange resources on an unsupervised, peer-to-peer level. This reduces the need for “centralisation” and trusted intermediaries. DWeb proponents’ speculative claims are often disseminated via social media, business, and technology blogs. In response, we offer a magic quadrant. The quadrant covers unconventional, DWeb-based organisations that are expected to govern “alt-tech” social networks, shadow markets, and metaverse projects. The quadrant also illustrates attempts by various parties to make the DWeb a reality. Next to the quadrant, we offer possible theoretical lenses to approach the DWeb.
Musical virality on TikTok results from the convergence of sonic structure, emotional legibility, and algorithmic filtering. This study applies Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and k-means clustering to a dataset of 178 viral tracks, using Spotify audio features to model three dominant sound clusters and five affective profiles (happy, melancholic, intense, relaxed, neutral). Songs marked by high rhythmic intensity and clearly readable emotions are more likely to be reused, remixed, and embedded in performance-based formats. However, linguistic, gendered, and artistic factors introduce significant asymmetries: Spanish-language songs, despite strong rhythmic profiles, tend to be underrepresented in global popularity rankings, suggesting algorithmic bias. Differences by vocal gender and artist format further illustrate how conventions of sonic identity shape visibility. These findings support the notion of a platform-native aesthetic regime — one that privileges affective clarity, rhythmic accessibility, and compatibility with recommendation systems. This research contributes to debates on platform culture, emotional infrastructures, and the algorithmic shaping of musical success by revealing the affective and structural underpinnings of virality in short-form digital environments.
