Reed Van Schenck
Reed Van Schenck is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh. Their dissertation research, “The Reactionary Web: Digital Media and the Reconstitution of White Supremacist Networks,” focuses on white supremacist digital networks in the United States with a particular interest in the effects of platform governance upon reactionary online cultures. Their interdisciplinary approach bridges critical-cultural studies, rhetorical theory, and media studies to evaluate the unsung ramifications of the far-right’s rise, regulation, and reconstitution. Highlighting patterns of interaction between users and infrastructure, Van Schenck’s work mobilizes humanistic analysis to understand political, economic, and ideological links between white supremacist networks and digital platforms, from Twitter and Twitch to Tor and Telegram. One result of this research is the article “Remaking the World Memetically,” which demonstrates how 4chan’s /pol/ (“Politically Incorrect”) board weaponizes class-based alienation to inflame white masculine anxiety. They are currently working on a book manuscript that evaluates the functional symbiosis of the digital platform economy with far-right and reactionary ideologies.
Van Schenck is a 2023 Data Fluencies Dissertation Research grantee.
