Marketing the “radical”: Symbolic communication and persuasive technologies in jihadist websites

Abstract

This paper reviews the persuasion techniques employed by jihadist websites with particular reference to the patterns of rhetoric, image, and symbolism manifested in text, videos, and interactive formats. Beyond symbolic communication, the online media needs to be also understood through its persuasive tendencies as a medium which elicits social response through its design architecture. This double articulation of new media technologies, as a medium for information and as a form of persuasive technology, has provided new means to market the radical. The marketing techniques of jihadist websites through multimedia formats have consequences for the formation of identities, both collective and individual. As a marketing tool it combines established forms of rhetoric and propaganda with new ways to reach audiences through both popular culture and religious ideologies. The paper analyses the implications for further research and counterterrorism strategies.

The challenge of radicalisation: a public health approach to understanding and intervention

“…This inequality in power, ostensibly a weaker authority attacking a larger more powerful one, is given prominence in the narratives of terrorists to justify the atrocities, killings, and the persistent disruption to society (O'Shaughnessy & Baines, 2009). Yet at the same time, recent claims from IS (Islamic State) and al-Qaeda is that they are larger authorities themselves, seeking to subvert a whole political and religious system and to exchange it for their own; the active and rapid pace of communications, the levels of resources, and use of persuasive device (technological, digital and dramatic) are alarming and distinct from previous terrorist groups (Bhui & Ibrahim, 2013) (Neumann, 2016).…”

Przekaz symboliczny i podejście User Experience na przykładzie serwisów internetowych teatrów krakowskich

“…ewokacja, ekspresja siebie, samorealizacja) bywa przypisywana zarówno do sfery symbolicznej, jak i do wartości hedonistycznych UX. W wyniku analizy piśmiennictwa zidentyfikowane trzy publikacje, w których omówione zostały badania układu składającego się z wartości hedonistycznych, pragmatycznych i symbolicznych (Bhui & Ibrahim, 2013;Hernik, 2012;Schuitema et al, 2013). Na ich podstawie nie udało się jednak wyłonić spójnego modelu uwzględniającego UX i przekaz symboliczny.…”

The Shift from Consumers to Prosumers: Susceptibility of Young Adults to Radicalization

“…The success of Salafist extremists is proof that the internet can become a tool to radicalize and recruit youth to commit crime. An article written by Bhui and Ibrahim (2013) discusses the techniques of persuasion used by jihadist websites. They usually use various models of rhetoric, images, and symbols in text, video, and interactive formats.…”

“…By using the media, propaganda is used to attract both groups of pop culture fans and religious groups. Bhui and Ibrahim (2013) stated that the internet has failed to ward off the emergence of radicalization. On the contrary, the internet is often used as an instrument to spread the influence of radicalization.…”