The bar of Forocoches as a masculine online place: Affordances, masculinist digital practices and trolling

Abstract

Forocoches is an underexplored online forum, part of the Spanish manosphere, notorious for its misogynistic and trolling content. In this work, we understand Forocoches, through the metaphor of the bar, as a distinct (online) place where men go to talk and joke around. The interaction of very specific affordances enables the creation of a particular masculinist online culture. The data in this article are drawn from a combination of the walkthrough method with a qualitative content analysis of the forum. Results show that Forocoches’ affordances facilitate the reproduction of masculinist digital practices, particularly trolling-based. The performance of trolling masculinities thus emerges, afforded by the functionalities and diverse uses of the platform, configuring itself as a socially acceptable archetype of digital (hegemonic) masculinity. As a result of this afforded masculinist engagement, the online borders of Forocoches are delineated, clearly distinguishing among insiders and others, which could lead to further reinforcing of hegemonic masculinity.

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