Seminar: Putting up with the Lulz: Emotional Regimes, Emotion Work and Costs in Hacktivist Participation

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of emotion work and its role for participants within the digital hacktivist scene that calls itself Anonymous. Emotion work refers to the efforts individuals make to conform to or display the expected emotional states in a given social context. Based on data derived from a 3-year ethnography of Anonymous, there were normative conflicts between activists and the "lulzy" emotional regime prevalent in the scene; one heavily associated with trolling. Participation in Anonymous, therefore, involved managing conflicting emotions (as well as fear) and adopting a disinterested attitude, particularly towards offensive language and offensive or even cruel humor (known as “the lulz”). While some found the trolling culture and emotional regime uncomfortable, others embraced it. Conflicts, both emotionally for participants and interpersonally, arose with regard to adhering to the lulzy emotional regime and expressing discomfort with offensive behavior. This was particularly true for left-leaning activists who had been drawn to the movement through other protests, such as Black Lives Matter. Different strategies, such as segregating audiences, seeking social support, or simply toughing it out, were employed to manage negative emotions and fears. Ultimately, social support networks and emotion work played a vital role in forming stable networks of association within Anonymous. These finding suggest that understanding the emotional regime—and subsequent emotion work—as a barrier to participatory investments in social and cultural capital can help to shed light on recruitment and participation in both digital-first and non-digital-first movement activity.