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It’s used for everything from explaining how far one might be willing to go in the name of an extremist cause to weeding out interlopers and spies.įor the novice forum browser and researcher, these linguistic codes can be baffling to navigate, and for good reason: much of it is designed to confuse the uninitiated. Earlier groups – and most subcultures in general - maintained their own language to establish and solidify a sense of group belonging, but for some of these more recently established groups, coded language is vital. This means group “belonging” is demarcated by language and nomenclature rather than the uniforms and marches that defined earlier extremist groups. From the incel movement to the alt right, many subcultures are born online, and members use the internet as their primary method of contact and radicalization.
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This shorthand is critically important, as today’s extremist movements largely operate online.
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While online posts about “pills” can help outside audiences gauge individuals’ states of mind, they are primarily used as a shorthand within extremist groups’ internal conversations. Are they just beginning to learn about an ideology, or have they progressed further to embrace a nihilistic, potentially violent mindset? These are not actual pharmaceuticals instead, each “pill” sends a message about a person’s level of dedication to an extremist ideology or cause. “Pills” feature prominently in the online chat rooms and forums dedicated to right-wing extremism.