Crime Online: Hashtag Like and Subscribe, or don't
What does influence look like when there are no formal memberships, no application processes, and no leaders? In this episode, Dr. Francesco Carlo Campisi shares insights from his doctoral research on how deviant online movements like Anonymous and QAnon mobilize participation using social media. We talk about emotional engagement, visibility as a resource, and how theory can help us understand participation in loosely organized but powerful digital collectives.
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Show Notes
Episode Notes
About our guest:
Dr. Francesco Carlo Campisi
PhD in Criminology, Université de Montréal
Researcher, International Centre for Comparative Criminology
🔗 https://www.cicc-iccc.org/fr/personnes/etudiants-supervises/carlo-campisi
🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesco-carlo-campisi-aa3576125/
Topics discussed in this episode:
- From street gangs to digital deviance: a research trajectory
- Why “recruitment” doesn’t fit how modern movements grow
- How groups like QAnon and Anonymous influence participation online
- Using social media metrics to measure engagement
- Emotional capital, visibility, and symbolic participation
- Updating resource mobilization theory for digital contexts
- Hashtag hijacking and online visibility strategies
- Stochastic terrorism and the challenge of lone-wolf violence
Papers or resources mentioned in this episode:
- Campisi, F. (2024). Unveiling the digital underworld – Exploring cyberbanging and recruitment of Canadian street gang members on social media. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 66. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjccj-2023-0033
- Campisi, F., Fortin, F., & Néron, M.-E. (2022). Hacktivists from the inside: Collective identity, target selection and tactical use of media during the Quebec Maple Spring protests. Presented at the ICCC Symposium. Available on ResearchGate
- Campisi, F., & Beauregard, E. (2025). QAnon’s use of hashtag hijacking on X and its impact on online engagement. SSRN preprint. Link
- McCarthy, J. D., & Zald, M. N. (1977). Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82(6), 1212–1241.
- Vigil, J. D. (1988). Barrio gangs: Street life and identity in Southern California. University of Texas Press. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/barrio-gangs-street-life-and-identity-southern-california-0
Other:
If you are curious about the video that was taken down, you should watch this video.