Reaction(ary) Media: International Symposium Convened by Centre Member Anthony Kelly
Dr Anthony Kelly
05.06.2025.
Reaction(ary) Media: International Symposium Convened by Centre Member Anthony Kelly
On May 29th, the UCD Centre for Digital Policy supported the delivery of an international symposium titled Reaction(ary) Media: Situating Influencers, Audiences, and Antagonisms. Convened by Dr Anthony Kelly, a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow in the UCD School of Information and Communication Studies, the event brought together academics, policymakers, and civil society and community stakeholders to address the dynamics of audience engagement with reactionary media. Through open and robust dialogue, participants sought to plot potential paths forward, from the dual perspectives of policy and research practice.
The symposium keynote, delivered by Dr Mel Stanfill (University of Central Florida) and chaired by Prof Kylie Jarrett (University College Dublin), examined the value of fan studies approaches to social conflicts and considered how audiences (including fans and anti-fans) position themselves in relation to shifting targets of reactionary outrage. Stanfill’s keynote served as a point of departure for considering the constitutive roles played by affective alignments in animating reactionary political agendas.
The event also featured two paper panels, a policy roundtable, and a panel discussion. The first paper panel of the day focused on the topic of gender, identity, and online networks. Chaired by Dr Páraic Kerrigan (University College Dublin), the panel featured contributions from Dr Catherine Baker (Dublin City University), Dr Marina Frid (University College Dublin, Dr Craig Haslop (University of Liverpool), and Dr Kathryn Claire Higgins (Goldsmiths, University of London).
Baker’s paper examined how science and academia are simultaneously attacked and co-opted in reactionary and far-right rhetoric. Frid’s paper explored how social media representations connecting digital entrepreneurship to wealth and influence drive the use of Instagram as a digital labour platform in Brazil. Haslop’s paper outlined the value of an ecosystems approach to misogyny influencers and the “ideological collabs” in which they engage. Higgins’ paper addressed how reactionary movements deploy hypothetical futures of injury and oppression to justify violence and regressive cultural agendas.
The second paper panel focused on the theme of audiences, texts, and political affects. Chaired by Dr Sarah Anne Dunne (UCD Centre for Digital Policy), the panel featured contributions from Dr Simone Driessen (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Jonathan Collins (Charles University), Dr Rhona Jamieson (University College Dublin), and Dr Shane Murphy (Dublin City University).
Collins’ paper presented the concept of “decentralised sociality” as a tool for understanding far-right community-building on alt-tech platforms. Driessen’s paper addressed the reactionary turn in fandom through a focus on fan reactions to assault allegations levelled at Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter. Jamieson’s paper explored narratives of utopia and apocalypse in the worldbuilding of neoreactionary blogs. Murphy’s paper called for an audience-centred perspective on online radicalisation, focusing on the example of self-identified incels.
The policy roundtable addressed the topic of audience engagement with reactionary media as a policy concern—chaired by Prof Eugenia Siapera (UCD Centre for Digital Policy), with contributions from Dr Eileen Culloty (Dublin City University/European Digital Media Observatory), Thomas Hughes (Appeals Centre Europe), Dr Gillian Kennedy (European Movement Ireland), Edel McGinley (Hope and Courage Collective), Dr Johnny Ryan (ICCL Enforce), and Tanya Warren (Coimisiún na Meán).
Roundtable participants flagged the complex convergence between the kinds of antagonisms seen online and material conditions offline, rendering the kind of remedies we might explore similarly complex. Social media platforms and their algorithms were seen as central factors in political upheavals that urgently need addressing. Discussion revealed a gap between formal regulatory processes at EU and local levels (e.g., DSA) and the realities encountered by civil society organisations on the ground. Community stakeholders stressed the desire to engage more with the systems being put in place, but resourcing is creating chokepoints.
Finally, rounding out the day’s proceedings, the event featured a panel discussion on future directions for the study of reactionary media—chaired by Dr Anthony Kelly and with contributions from Prof Alan Finlayson (University of East Anglia), Prof Debbie Ging (Dublin City University), and Prof Gavan Titley (Maynooth University). Confronting factors such as content monetisation, the role of microinfluencers, and the impacts of political discourse, speakers addressed the need for engaged research focused both on how politics are shaped by material conditions of life and the shared articulation of an effective counterpolitics.
Discussions over the course of the day focused on dynamics of audience engagement with reactionary rhetoric; the risks involved in researching reactionary audiences; the impacts of material living conditions and the lived experience(s) of marginalisation; and the imperative to ensure resourcing for the regulatory systems currently being put in place as well as the urgent need to think beyond them. The interplay of influencers, audiences, and antagonisms has broad implications for the creation of effective digital policy and the conduct of impactful research. However, understanding a platformised reactionary media ecosystem that privileges outrage and toxicity also requires practitioners remain attuned to the contextual realities (i.e., social, political, economic) in which these systems are intimately entangled.
The event was made possible through funding provided by a National University of Ireland Grant for Early Career Academics, a Research Ireland Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the UCD Centre for Digital Policy. Significant admin support was provided by the UCD School of Information and Communication Studies. Additional information about the event can be found on the ICS website.
Author:
Anthony Kelly is a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow in the UCD School of Information and Communication Studies and a member of the UCD Centre for Digital Policy. Anthony holds a PhD in Media and Communication Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science. His current work, funded by Research Ireland, addresses reactionary political influencers and their social media audiences.