The Data of Hate

[Perknose]

Lots of interesting data on the demographics of Stormfront members in this article.

Some (but not nearly all) excerpts:

Profiles do not have a field for gender. But I looked at all the posts and complete profiles of a random sample of American users, and it turns out that you can work out the gender of most of the membership: I estimate that about 30 percent of Stormfront members are female.

[...]

POLITICAL developments certainly play a role. The day that saw the biggest single increase in membership in Stormfront’s history, by far, was Nov. 5, 2008, the day after Barack Obama was elected president.

[...]

The white nationalist posters on Stormfront have issues with many different groups. They often write about crimes committed by African-Americans against whites; they complain about an “invasion” of Mexicans; and they love to mock gays and feminists. But their main problem appears to be with Jewish people, who are often described as super-powerful and clever — the driving force, generally speaking, behind the societal changes they do not like. They sometimes call the Holocaust the “Holohoax."

TARGETS OF THEIR IRE
Groups most often mentioned in American Stormfront user profiles.

Jews 39%
Blacks 33%
Hispanics 13%
Muslims 11%
Other 3%

[...]

The most common age at which people join the site is 19. And four times more 19-year-olds sign up than 40-year-olds. Internet and social network users lean young, but not nearly that young.

Accompanying Graphic.

 

[alzan]

Good article. I was a little surprised at Oregon being identified as the home state of some SF members; I would guess it's the rural areas of the state.

I think the article confirms the idea that there is a intellectual laziness behind distrust and/or hatred of particular groups; it's easier to stereotype and generalize about a group, having direct contact with members of that group tend to eradicate the generalizations once used to justify the distrust.

As well is the whole us vs. them mentality and a lack of personal accountability in the "haters" group; why hold yourself responsible when you can blame whole groups based on the actions of a few?

 

[brandonb]

why hold yourself responsible when you can blame whole groups based on the actions of a few?

When I was visiting the site a few years ago (before I was banned on the site), I'd say its really the opposite in their mind. They believe the entire group is doing bad, and people only focus on the few that's doing good. Think of it like a pit bull. Sure some may be good dogs. But do you treat them as if they are a good dog, or do you threat them as if they are potentially aggressive killers? Once you get to know them, sure, they might be the best dog in the world, but you should be hesitant until that happens. I don't think anybody on that site (from what I remember) says you should hate someone on an individual basis just because. That's just idiotic. But you should be wary of them based on the actions of the group.

If you think about it. Most everybody does this. Put in Conservative, Liberal, Jew, Black, White, whatever.