Mapping the Germanosphere. A Pilot Study
Gülay Çağlar, Dominik Hammer, Charlotte Drath, Paula Matlach, and Karolin Schwarz
This pilot study is the first analysis of German misogynous online milieus across platforms and sub-groups. The „Mannosphäre“ – the German variant of the anglophone manosphere – encompasses movements such as „Incels“, „Pick-Up Artists“, and „Men‘s Rights Activists“ that propagate misogynist ideology, reject gender equality and the liberal social order, and spread violent fantasies. The study uses a mixed methods approach, including expert interviews, digital ethnography, and a network analysis. In total, over 350 websites and social media accounts with misogynist content were identified, classified, and analysed. Links between websites and guest appearances on YouTube channels were examined to better understand the importance of individual actors and narratives, as well as their political or commercial motivations. Findings show that the „Mannosphäre“ mirrors the manosphere in its narratives and structure. However, platform usage differs between the individual manosphere sub-groups. Based on the study‘s results, recommendations were developed for dealing with misogynous online milieus.