Edgelord

{{internet}}{{cquote|Chat logs from an [[IRC]] room I was in nearly a decade ago were leaked to [[gamergate]]. To say the contents of those logs were not flattering would be putting it lightly. They are, in some ways, much what you’d expect from an early-2000’s chatroom of [[4chan]] expats trying too hard to outdo each other for shock value. Even with that context, much of what I said was gross and disturbing, and I have no interest in defending it.|||Sarah Nyberg<ref name="nyberg">Sarah Nyberg, [https://medium.com/@srhbutts/i-m-sarah-nyberg-and-i-was-a-teenage-edgelord-b8a460b27e10 I’m Sarah Nyberg, and I Was A Teenage Edgelord.], Medium, 14 September 2015.</ref>}}
An '''edgelord''' is a participant in an [[internet]] forum whose contributions are deliberately designed to be offensive, usually in a dark and demeaning fashion. The term is mostly used in a pejorative sense to describe someone who makes outrageous statements in order to appear "edgy" or "cool", when in reality they come off as an idiot or [[troll]], making baseless statements, [[Argumentum ad cellarium|in their mom’s basement]], in order to disrupt conversations. 

Edgelords may express [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] opinions, appear pretentious, and appear to be expressing their outrageous opinions solely for the purpose of getting others to notice and respond to them.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5lr2tu/eli5_what_exactly_is_an_edgelord/ What exactly is an edgelord?] reddit.com, 3 January 2017.</ref> They will often express disdain towards established authority figures, hype themselves up as special badasses with special destinies (the specific term for ''that'' sort of silliness being "chuunibyou"<ref>[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Chuunibyou "Chuunibyou"], [[TV Tropes]]. Accessed 09-SEP-2024.</ref>), and/or treat "shoot first and ask questions later" ({{IdEst}} ''immediately'' using [[threat]]s and/or actual violence to get one's way) as a decent approach to problem-solving (as opposed to psychopathic behavior that tends to flush the [[Public relations|reputation]] of anyone who tries it down the toilet).<ref>[https://1d6chan.miraheze.org/wiki/Edgy "Edgy" on 1d6chan]. Accessed 09-SEP-2024.</ref><!-- Another reference would be nice here. --> The end result of this aloof antisociality and unpalatable opinions tends to be alienation and being treated as a joke.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/edgelord-definition |title=What's an 'Edgelord' and Why Do You Never Want to Be One? |last=Gunner |first=Jennifer |date=April 14, 2022 |website=Your Dictionary.com |publisher=LoveToKnow Media |access-date=September 9, 2024 |quote= If you like attention and you’re prone to dark [https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/examples-hyperbole-use hyperbole], the role of edgelord sounds like a perfect fit. But don’t fill out that job application just yet — being an edgelord isn’t all its{{sic}} cracked up to be. Once you’ve got the reputation as an edgelord, people tend not to take you as seriously, so your actual opinions may get washed away with your over-the-top ones. Additionally, an edgelord’s intention is to alienate others with their statements and worldview, creating a schism that may be difficult to repair in the future.<br/><br/>If you don’t care about making nice and having friends, go ahead and hit “Post” on that crazy dark stance you’re about to make. But if you want to be taken seriously (and contrary to what they say, most edgelords really do want to be taken seriously), try to speak with a little more nuance.}}</ref>

The general concept of edgelords originated in the dark corners of the internet and [[4chan|chan culture]]. The term appears to have thrust itself into the internet mainstream with the publication of transgender social justice activist Sarah Nyberg's article "I’m Sarah Nyberg, and I Was A Teenage Edgelord" in the fall of 2015, during the peak of the [[Gamergate]] shitstorm,<ref name="nyberg" /> and has been in steady use ever since.<ref>[https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=edgelord Google Trends data] for the term "edgelord".</ref>

==Examples of edgelords==
*[[Joshua Conner Moon]], [[far-right]] administrator of the [[Kiwi Farms]] cyberstalking/hate speech site.<ref>[http://news.crocels.com/news/9432/joshua-conner-moon-kiwifarms-kiwifar-ms-shutdown-by-montserrat/ Joshua Conner Moon’s Kiwi Farms website shut down.] news.crocels.com, 23 August 2016.</ref>
*[[Roosh V]], sleazy [[manosphere]] figure and [[pick-up artist]] known for his overt [[misogyny]].
*[[Milo Yiannopoulos]], [[alt-right]] figure, [[Gamergate]] figurehead, and [[professional troll]].

==See also==
*[[Don't feed the troll]]
*[[Proll]], the "old media" version
*[[Alt-right glossary#Shitlord|Shitlord]] in the [[Alt-right glossary]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|internet}}

[[Category:Alt-right]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Internet culture]]
[[Category:Trolls| ]]

Categories: Alt-right, Internet, Internet culture, Trolls