Convenors
Stefano Brilli, University of Urbino
stefano.brilli@uniurb.it
Oscar Ricci, University of Milano-Bicocca
oscar.ricci@unimib.it
As Gary Alan Fine has argued, reputational politics is a field of competition for the control of memory, where «difficult reputations» play an essential role (Fine, 2001). This session will explore the social dynamics and cultural significance of «despicable» public personas. These figures, labelled as morally reprehensible, elicit widespread disdain and outrage, yet also attract attention and fascination. Examples of such personas include extremist political commentators, internet trolls (Phillips, 2015), controversial influencers like Andrew Tate or Nikocado Avocado, and reality TV stars notorious for their inflammatory behaviour. In a media environment dominated by digital platforms and algorithmic visibility, public recognition appears increasingly detached from traditional markers of virtue and talent (Ricci, 2014; Brilli, 2023). Social media, reality television, and viral content have fostered a new breed of public personas who provoke intense emotional responses, fuelling cycles of media consumption, moral judgement, and online discourse.
While disdain, scandal, and derision have long been visibility tactics in celebrity culture (Gamson, 1998; Penfold-Mounce, 2004; Billig, 2005; Johansson, 2006), these dynamics have expanded into diverse fields, influencing strategies in marketing, political propaganda (McLaughlin et al., 2022), and entertainment (Gray, 2021). These figures often challenge or reinforce existing social hierarchies, but the very notion of who is considered «despicable» varies across contexts. A despicable public persona may not be universally condemned but instead reviled by particular constituencies, raising questions about how social groups assign moral labels and respond to such personas.
Ethnographic approaches offer valuable insights into how different communities interact with these personas, providing a nuanced understanding of the implicit value categories, taste hierarchies, and cultural narratives that shape online infamy. By focusing on the everyday experiences of individuals and communities, ethnography reveals how specific social groups engage with or resist the narratives surrounding despicable public personas within their own cultural contexts.
This session invites contributions from scholars in sociology, anthropology, media studies, cultural studies, and psychology to provide multidisciplinary insights into this phenomenon. In particular, there is an interest to explore how an ethnographic perspective can serve as a tool for analysing the implicit value categories and taste hierarchies surrounding infamy.
This topic touches on broader issues about the nature of contemporary public recognition, the role of digital media in shaping public discourse, and the moral frameworks within which we judge public figures.
Open questions
- How do these figures influence civic engagement, political discourse, and democratic processes in online and offline spaces?
- In what ways do race, gender, class, and other social identities shape the reception and perception of these figures?
- What ethical considerations arise when studying or engaging with despicable public personas? Should researchers be cautious about amplifying harmful figures by studying them?
- What role does attention economy and algorithmic amplification play in the creation of controversial, inflammatory, or morally outrageous figures, and what responsibility do platforms have in shaping public discourse around them? How can the ethnographic method contribute to understanding these dynamics?
- Are there instances where such figures provoke meaningful conversations about social norms, ethics, or justice, even if their actions or personas are widely condemned?
Keywords
digital fame; infamy; public shaming; moral outrage; attention economy; bad taste; celebrity culture.
Sub-disciplines or cross-disciplinary areas of concern
digital sociology; media and communication studies; cultural studies; anthropology of digital cultures; critical discourse analysis; ethics and moral philosophy; political communication.
References
Billig, M.
2005 Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Laughter, Sage, London.
Brilli, S.
2023 YouTube Freak Show: Fama e derisione alle soglie dell’influencer culture, FrancoAngeli, Milano.
Fine, G. A.
2001 Difficult Reputations Collective Memories of the Evil, Inept, and Controversial, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Gamson, J.
1998 Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Gray, J.
2021 Dislike-Minded Media, Audiences, and the Dynamics of Taste, New York University Press, New York.
Johansson, S.
2006 «Sometimes You Wanna Hate Celebrities: Tabloid Readers and Celebrity Coverage», in Holmes S., Redmond S. (Eds.), Framing celebrity, Routledge, London, pp. 343-358.
McLaughlin, B., Dunn, J. A., Velez, J. A., Hunter, J.
2022 «There Must Be A Villain: Political Threats, Narrative Thought, and Political Violence», in Communication Quarterly, pp. 1-22.
Penfold-Mounce, R.
2004 «The Star’s Image, Victimization and Celebrity Culture», in Punishment & Society, 6, 3, pp. 289-302.
Phillips, W.
2015 This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture, Mit Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ricci, O.
2014 «Celebrità da disprezzare? Star di cattivo gusto, classe, genere e distinzione», in Studi culturali, 11, 3, pp. 449-468.
Convenors’ bios
Stefano Brilli is a Research Fellow at the Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies of the University of Urbino, Italy. He has recently published: YouTube Freak Show: Fama e derisione alle soglie dell’influencer culture (2023) and Gradienti di liveness: Performance e comunicazione dal vivo nei contesti mediatizzati (with Laura Gemini, 2023).
Oscar Ricci is a Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. He has published articles and books on media and communication. His main interests are sociology of media, technology and digital culture.