Kill All Normies
Published in 2017, Kill All Normies traces the online subcultures that shaped the political mood of the mid 2010s, from 4chan and Reddit to Tumblr and the platforms in between. Angela Nagle, an Irish writer and academic, focuses on how a transgressive, anti establishment internet style migrated from message boards into mainstream politics during the rise of figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and the alt right, culminating around the 2016 election of Donald Trump. She also examines what she calls Tumblr style identity politics on the left, arguing that the two camps fed off each other's worst tendencies. The book is short, deliberately provocative, and aimed at general readers rather than academics. It became one of the most discussed early efforts to make sense of how irony, trolling, and online community produced a new kind of political culture.
What you might want to know about Kill All Normies
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A short polemic on the rise of the alt-right and the culture wars on 4chan, Tumblr, and beyond.
It is openly polemical and critical of both the alt right and parts of the online left; readers should expect strong arguments rather than neutral reporting.
Yes, the book has been debated for its sourcing and conclusions, with both strong defenders and critics.
Kill All Normies was written by Angela Nagle.
Kill All Normies is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.