The Everything Cult: Multiphrenic Faith and the QAnon Movement
This article undertakes an analysis of QAnon marketing and metaphysics through a holistic lens of mediatization theory and medium theory. It proposes a means of understanding the movement as an example of mediatization in the sense of a social environment in which behavior comes to resemble the logi...
| Published in: | Journal of religion, media and digital culture |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2022
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| In: |
Journal of religion, media and digital culture
Year: 2022, Volume: 11, Issue: 1, Pages: 12-32 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
QAnon
/ Quasi-religion
/ New media
/ Marketing
/ Group dynamics
|
| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AE Psychology of religion AZ New religious movements NBL Doctrine of Predestination NBQ Eschatology NCA Ethics RJ Mission; missiology ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies |
| Further subjects: | B
Conspiracy
B Extremism B Digital Media B Religion B QAnon B Marketing |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article undertakes an analysis of QAnon marketing and metaphysics through a holistic lens of mediatization theory and medium theory. It proposes a means of understanding the movement as an example of mediatization in the sense of a social environment in which behavior comes to resemble the logic of the media, and mediatization in the sense of an institution—that is, the Q movement as a media entity operating as a social agent in the world at large. It will be argued that the specific character of these mediatizations comes about partly—and perhaps largely—as a consequence of the technical affordances of key digital platforms through which QAnon conspiracy culture spreads. The marketing of the QAnon faith-brand is both strategic and decentralized. It comes about as both the result of conscious planning by key figures within the movement and the emergent consequence of countless would-be marketers’ efforts (both true believers and cynics). The speed, anonymity, and ephemerality of the 8chan and 8kun imageboards favor the cryptic, rapid-fire messages which characterized Q’s writing. The collective anonymity and anonymous collectivity fostered by the design and engineering of online messageboards like 8chan and 8kun () likewise fostered a social environment of mass anonymous exegesis. Simultaneously, the entrepreneurial design and engineering (and ideology) of social media platforms intersect with this anonymous collectivity to produce a class of “Q-fluencers,” individuals who market the QAnon conspiracy theory, its politics and metaphysics, as a lifestyle brand—and who market themselves as Q-based brand-personalities. Through this analysis, this article aims to shed light on the socio-technical conditions out of which Q arose and to critique the assumptions of digital ideology which produce technologies and use-behaviors amenable to extremist swindles such as QAnon. |
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| ISSN: | 2165-9214 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion, media and digital culture
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/21659214-bja10074 |