Global Online Subculture Surrounding School Shootings

Bibliographic Data

ID5116301
AuthorsJenni Raitanen (University of Tampere), Atte Oksanen (0000-0003-4143-5580, University of Tampere, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume62
Issue2
Pages195-209
Publication date2018-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002764218755835
OpenAlexW2785755127
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited36

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 re-creation 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 into 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

Criminology · Ethnography · Media studies · Sociology · Subculture (biology) · Anthropology · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Gun Ownership and Violence Research

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access