The Antisocial Network

Directors Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini take us on a chilling journey in "The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem," a documentary exploring the dark underbelly of online culture and its unintended consequences.

The film tackles a highly relevant issue, tracing the evolution of memes from silly jokes to tools for manipulation and the erosion of truth. Millennial interviewees, once active participants, offer a unique perspective on how their online actions spiraled out of control. The documentary masterfully weaves early internet memes with news clips and social media posts, creating a vivid timeline of events.

While focusing on the rise of 4chan, the film could delve deeper into the broader impact of other anonymous platforms. Some interviewees seem to romanticize the early days of the internet, neglecting the inherent toxicity that always existed.

Editing is sharp, seamlessly transitioning between interviews, memes, and news footage. The score is subtle yet effective, adding tension without being overly dramatic. The interviewers guide the narrative effectively, drawing insightful commentary from participants.

"The Antisocial Network" is a must-watch for anyone interested in the internet's influence on society. Despite some limitations, the film serves as a stark reminder of the responsibility we hold online and the potential for memes to morph into real-world mayhem.

But it managed to be educational and present its thesis quite well. The thesis is that the infamous 4chan led to such social movements as OccupyWallstreet, Anonymous, Gamergate, and the rise of Donald Trump and finally, to January 6th. It showed how these groups morphed together and separated. It shows very clearly how the alt-right latched onto meme culture and tried to hijack the political discourse. I was never on 4chan, but remember seeing their productions out in the wild. It's a cautionary tale about two things, the first about how just because you create something, that does not mean you can control it as the creator of 4chan discovered, and the second is never to underestimate the stupidity of the masses. They will beieve anything as long as its in a visual form with some white text.

Plot

A group of lonely teenagers formed an online community and bonded over their isolation, but their collective beliefs warped reality.

Cast

Sadly those interviewed are for the most part far from decent human beings.

Verdict

Just to confuse myself this was the second documentary of its sort within a very short period of time, the other also featured hacking and anonymous. This however was the superior piece by far and was an entertaining though damning subject matter that unfortunately I'd experienced the consequences of first hand.

It looks at the history of 4chan which though I'm very aware of, didn't know some of the eccentricities and found them very interesting. It shows the snowball effect of online extremism and how badly even simple "Mean words" can escalate.

The trouble is the people interviewed are not good folks, they glamorize hacking, they defend trolling, most appreciate by the end that their behavior was foolhardy and escalated granted but it changes nothing.

The anti-social network is very well made, devastating subject matter and entirely fascinating.

Rants

I see word within the reviews as usual spouting agenda/propaganda, those words have lost all meaning. It's not attacking one political side, it's examining one subject and it just happens to be one side that's responsible for all the consequences and side effects.

You see I mentioned I'd experienced this first hand, my ex was a rational decent human being then she came across the online hive of hate, right wing extremism and conspiracies and over the course of two years she changed in ways I didn't even think was possible. She became racist, homophobic, transphobic, anti-immigrant, anti-benefits claimant, a seething ball of hate against every minority. She grabbed hold of every conspiracy going, flat earth, chemtrails, the LGBT agenda and planet X (She loved that one). She lost her mind, and funnily enough yes she become a Trump fan. The internet has a great power to change people, and make them completely unconditionally lose the plot and that leads to further unpleasantness and spreads like a plague.

The Good

Very well made Stylish Insightful

The Bad

Those interviewed as wretches Pure rage fuel.

As one could expect, a documentary about people on the Internet gets very mixed reviews from people on the Internet.

This documentary raises many thoughts when it goes through some of the history of 4chan, Anonymous, Qanon, and MAGA, and how they link together. I found it personally very interesting, well-made, and I learned some new information. As a viewer, however, you need to remember that this is still just an edited Netflix documentary about the Internet and, well, you can never really know the whole truth about that. Do some people make themselves seem more important than they truly were? Who knows. Maybe, maybe not.

In whole, this is an important topic especially in today's world and I'm glad I decided to watch it. And you conspiracy theorists, you live in a made-up world.

The internet's influence on culture, politics and media is ubiquitous. But who influences the internet? This documentary answers that question - or starts to - by focusing on the rise of 4chan, the anonymous imageboard website that served as a surrogate online community for grassroots activists and agitators on both the left and right. This documentary exposes (perhaps unintentionally) the harrowing fact that the 4chan community was full of the most wretched, hateful and inadequate people you're ever likely to encounter. If you met any of this documentary's interviewees in person you would dismiss them as pathetic crackpots or worse and you would promptly ignore them. But ensconced in the anonymity of a signal-boosting online echo chamber they were able to exercise a grossly outsized influence on the 2010s. The internet (supposedly a means of democratizing discourse by giving a globe-spanning voice to virtually anyone) has actually given the loudest and most prominent voices to cabals of unaccountable weirdos who spend all their time on the internet.