Tracking User Engagement with Internally and Externally Directed Violence on Incels.is

• In Event: Criminological Advances in the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence in the United States

Abstract

The incel—or involuntary celibate—community has faced increasing scrutiny for its association with acts of mass violence and domestic terrorism. Incels.is, a popular incel forum, hosts communication within this community, communication that both claims aversion to violence and frequently discusses and encouraged realized acts of violence. This study aims to examine whether there are significant differences in user interaction between posts that encourage violence against the self versus against others. The results find that users are significantly more likely to engage with posts that mention killing both oneself and another individual than all other posts unassociated with violence. Posts that involve users discussing killing themselves have a greater rate of replies than posts about killing another individual, suggesting these posts garner more user engagement that could either provoke violence or represent concern. Additionally, posts that glorify murder associated with the incel community and incel-adjacent ideals have a meaningfully higher rate of both reviews and replies than posts that discuss violence that is unrelated to the incel community. This suggests a greater interest in incel-related violence with a potential for the encouragement of violent activity and radicalization.

Author

• Jennifer West, American University