|
"Beta Uprising" is a phrase used on 4chan and Reddit to refer to suggestion of violence or support of violence by "socially awkward" males against "alpha males" and women. The violence or support of violence by others is said to be a response to lack of intimacy, romantic success and sexual gratification. The legitimacy of the term has been questioned and some posters on 4chan and Reddit have said that the term is satirical in nature and was never intended to be taken seriously. The phrase "beta uprising" was mentioned by BBC News in the aftermath of the Umpqua Community College shooting. 4chan users "have joked that it’s the start of a 'Beta Uprising', a revolution in which beta males who have been overlooked by women finally get revenge". The phrase "beta uprising" has been mentioned in threats made on 4chan by anonymous users against Edinburgh University, Eastern Kentucky University, Otago University, and unspecified campuses in Philadelphia. Background On forums like 4chan’s /r9k/, Reddit’s r/ForeverAlone, and the old-timer Love-Shy.com, men who would like to be in a romantic/sexual relationship, but are not, refer to themselves as "involuntary celibate" (incels). They attribute their lack of success with women to sexual freedom and to women's ability to choose who they want to have sex with. Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing at Salon, criticised satirical or jocular threats, apparent encouragements of violence and the use of phrases like "beta uprising", arguing that "normal grade satire" shouldn't lead to people fearing for their safety and "the FBI issu(ing) warnings". Users of the phrase "beta uprising" use a meme character called Pepe. Angry Pepe the Frog is an adaptation on the 4chan forum /r9k/ of the character Pepe from the comic Boy's Club, which became something of a 4chan mascot as users drew thousands of variations on the character. 'Angry Pepe' is generally used to express frustration on 4chan forums, including against 'normalfags' or 'normies' on /r9k/. Prominence after the 2015 Umpqua Community College Shooting In the follow-up to the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College on 1 October 2015, federal authorities and media outlets became suspicious of a possible link between the suspected perpetrator and a post on 4chan's /r9k/ which read: "don't go to school tomorrow if you are in the northwest". Perhaps intending humor, others on 4chan posted apparently encouraging comments in response. Robyn Pennacchia at The Frisky said that some commenters on the 4chan forum seemed to see the shooter as "one of their own" and seemed to be "cheering him on". In the following week, users created posts interpreted by some authorities as threats to launch school shootings as part of a "beta uprising". These included an online threat directed at Edinburgh University that was identified as low risk by the police. This, paired with a similar 4chan post posted prior to the Oregon shootings, caused some media outlets to question whether or not posts referring to this sparked the shooter's actions. The Washington Post referred to these posters as being part of "one of the Internet’s most-reviled subcultures."<ref name=Dewey/>
|
|
|