Conspiracy theories permeate through every level of theWeb. The semiotic features of this medium lead to mistrust, misunderstanding, and aberrant interpretations entailing a mythological approach to meaning. The essay investigates the relations between conspiracy theories and the semiotic features of a peculiar area of the Web: its peripheries. In particular, the essay focuses on the so–called “A-culture”, hosted in the boards of sites such as 4chan and 8chan. In order to study the semiotic dynamics that promote the rise of conspiracy theories, the essay singles out a particularly challenging case study: the violent Web dispute about video games and feminism, known as #GamerGate.

Trolls, hackers, anons: Conspiracy theories in the peripheries of the web

Thibault, Mattia
2016-01-01

Abstract

Conspiracy theories permeate through every level of theWeb. The semiotic features of this medium lead to mistrust, misunderstanding, and aberrant interpretations entailing a mythological approach to meaning. The essay investigates the relations between conspiracy theories and the semiotic features of a peculiar area of the Web: its peripheries. In particular, the essay focuses on the so–called “A-culture”, hosted in the boards of sites such as 4chan and 8chan. In order to study the semiotic dynamics that promote the rise of conspiracy theories, the essay singles out a particularly challenging case study: the violent Web dispute about video games and feminism, known as #GamerGate.
2016
23-24
387
408
http://lexia.to.it/
#GamerGate; Conspiracy theories; Play; Web and internet; Philosophy
Thibault, Mattia
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1652664
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