Global Online Subculture Surrounding School Shootings

Abstract

This study is grounded in extensive online ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with 22 people who expressed a deep interest in school shootings. Such people form a global online subculture; they share common interests and find the same cultural objects important. Media accounts of school shootings have fueled this subculture; its members participate in the recreation and circulation of online media content and give new meanings to that content. We found that people deeply interested in school shootings do not form a homogenous group, and they are divided to four subgroups within the subculture based on members' focus and interest: researchers, fan girls, Columbiners and copycats. Out of these, copycats are the only subgroup explicitly interested in replicating the acts, although subgroup membership can overlap, and members can move from one subgroup to another. Beyond copycats, other subgroups also participate in giving perpetrators fame and circulate reasons for the shootings. These accounts may influence future perpetrators.

Similar crimes, similar behaviors? Comparing lone‐actor terrorists and public mass murderers

“…First, some forms of (attempted) shootings traditionally thought of as (attempted) public mass murder are gaining much wider support online. This is true for school shootings [35], "targeted individuals" [36],…”

“…First, some forms of (attempted) shootings traditionally thought of as (attempted) public mass murder are gaining much wider support online. This is true for school shootings [35], “targeted individuals” [36], Incels [37], and various forms of conspiracy theories that cross the Rubicon into inspiring political violence (e.g., QAnon [38]). As these locales grow, it will likely foster more leakage behaviors amongst the few who mobilize to violence.…”

Media Coverage of Mass Killers: Content, Consequences, and Solutions

“…Much like media coverage of movie stars and professional athletes creates fans of those celebrity types, media coverage of mass killers creates fans and followers as well. Raitanen and Oksanen (2018) found that these people are fascinated by previous attackers for a variety of reasons, including sexual attraction, deep sympathy, intense curiosity, or the desire to commit their own copycat attacks. Their obsessions are largely fed by media coverage of past perpetrators, which provides the names, photos, and life stories that they craft into objects for future worship and share online.…”

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“…Research also has been conducted about the presence of school shooting fan communities online (Oksanen et al, 2014;Raitanen & Oksanen, 2018). These studies reveal that several groups, including fan girls, researchers, Columbine fans, and copycats find communities online.…”

“…These studies reveal that several groups, including fan girls, researchers, Columbine fans, and copycats find communities online. They also indicate that social media have the potential to function as powerful arenas for idea sharing and violence justification (Oksanen et al, 2014;Raitanen & Oksanen, 2018).…”