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Computer Science, Computers and Society, cs.CY
Abstract:
In this paper, we present a large-scale characterization of the Manosphere, a
conglomerate of Web-based misogynist movements roughly focused on "men's
issues," which has seen significant growth over the past years. We do so by
gathering and analyzing 28.8M posts from 6 forums and 51 subreddits. Overall,
we paint a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the Manosphere on the Web,
showing the links between its different communities over the years. We find
that milder and older communities, such as Pick Up Artists and Men's Rights
Activists, are giving way to more extremist ones like Incels and Men Going
Their Own Way, with a substantial migration of active users. Moreover, our
analysis suggests that these newer communities are more toxic and misogynistic
than the former.