Hazing as a Process of Boundary Maintenance in an Online Community

Abstract

Online as well as offline, elite members of communities may seek to consolidate their power and maintain inequality by employing processes of boundary maintenance. One form of boundary maintenance is hazing, or subjecting potential group members to degrading initiation rituals. This article presents a case study of how one online community employs hazing techniques. Using both quantitative and qualitative computer-mediated discourse analysis, the study examines how the elite members of the community enact violence, withhold cultural capital, and control access as a means to retain their power and maintain their boundaries. The results of this study have implications for understanding boundary maintenance, hazing in online contexts, and online communities in general.

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