Outputs (11)

I spoke to men who swallowed the red pill: what incel culture is really like. (2025)
Newspaper / Magazine
SMITH, D.S. 2025. I spoke to men who swallowed the red pill: what incel culture is really like. Metro [online], 19 March 2025. Available from: https://metro.co.uk/2025/03/19/spoke-men-swallowed-red-pill-incel-culture-really-like-22752536/

Short for involuntary celibates, incels are men who believe a combination of their bad genes and modern feminism have left them romantically/sexually destitute. In short, they consider themselves scientifically unloveable. As a psychologist, I find i... Read More about I spoke to men who swallowed the red pill: what incel culture is really like..

Just imagine Elon Musk... you really think he does that? Neoliberal subjecthood and the sexual marketplace in pornography abstinence/reboot communities. (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
SMITH, D.S. 2024. Just imagine Elon Musk... you really think he does that? Neoliberal subjecthood and the sexual marketplace in pornography abstinence/reboot communities. Presented at the 3rd Joint international annual conference of the LEX Network, Violence Against Women and Girls Research Network, Feminist Legal Research and Action Network, and the Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law (LEX-VAWGRN-FRAN-CSEL 2024): activism, change and feminist futures: remembering the past to reimagine the future, 7-8 November 2024, Liverpool, UK.

Through a deterministic evolutionary psychology framework, the manosphere conceptualises an inflexible sexual market that positions men as entrepreneurs competing for a limited resource: women's interest. In recent years, researchers have explored th... Read More about Just imagine Elon Musk... you really think he does that? Neoliberal subjecthood and the sexual marketplace in pornography abstinence/reboot communities..

Unveiling "ex-incels": identity dynamics and juxtaposed hegemonic masculinity. (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
SMITH, D.S. and ADAMS, N. 2024. Unveiling "ex-incels": identity dynamics and juxtaposed hegemonic masculinity. Presented at the 3rd Joint international annual conference of the LEX Network, Violence Against Women and Girls Research Network, Feminist Legal Research and Action Network, and the Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law (LEX-VAWGRN-FRAN-CSEL 2024): activism, change and feminist futures: remembering the past to reimagine the future, 7-8 November 2024, Liverpool, UK.

This study examines the experiences of former involuntary celibates (ex-incels) - men who frequented incel communities, but no longer identify with the label. We introduce a framework of Juxtaposed Hegemonic Masculinity to interrogate participants' s... Read More about Unveiling "ex-incels": identity dynamics and juxtaposed hegemonic masculinity..

It made me feel powerful in a way: the role of suicidality in incel communities. (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
SMITH, D.S. 2024. It made me feel powerful in a way: the role of suicidality in incel communities. Presented at the 8th Suicide and self-harm early and mid-career researchers’ forum 2024, 17-18 June 2024, Glasgow, UK.

Incels (involuntary celibates) are young men who see themselves as naturally inferior to others ("the red pill") and believe this cannot be changed ("the black pill"). Research suggests they are very likely to experience suicidal ideation. This proje... Read More about It made me feel powerful in a way: the role of suicidality in incel communities..

Land of woke and glory? The British war on wokeness. [Conference Event] (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
SMITH, D. 2024. Land of woke and glory? The British war on wokeness. Presented at the 2024 Robert Gordon University community seminar series, 12 March 2024, Aberdeen, UK.

Wokeness is discussed in the media on a daily basis, and has been called "one of the biggest threats to modern civilisation" by the then world's richest man. Yet its specific meaning is extremely vague. The term originated among black American commun... Read More about Land of woke and glory? The British war on wokeness. [Conference Event].

Threads, Tweets and TikToks: the ethics and challenges of online qualitative research. (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
SMITH, D.S. and MEECHAN, A. 2024. Threads, Tweets and TikToks: the ethics and challenges of online qualitative research. Presented at the February 2024 School of Applied Social Studies (SASS) research and development hour, 14 February 2024, Aberdeen, UK.

Since the late 90s, social media has revolutionised how people interact and communicate. Among other things, they help old friends keep in touch, people from marginalised communities meet safely, and individuals explore aspects of their identity and... Read More about Threads, Tweets and TikToks: the ethics and challenges of online qualitative research..

Members in good standing? The relationship between NoFap/reboot communities and the manosphere. (2024)
Journal Article
SMITH, D.S. 2024. Members in good standing? The relationship between NoFap/Reboot communities and the manosphere. International journal of communication [online], 18, pages 528-541. Available from: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/20524/4448

NoFap/reboot communities are online groups of mostly men trying to abstain from pornography and/or masturbation. For researchers exploring the manosphere, a loose collation of digital communities in which men affirm and replicate antifeminist/promale... Read More about Members in good standing? The relationship between NoFap/reboot communities and the manosphere..

One of the biggest threats to modern civilisation? The weaponisation of "wokeness" in the UK press and political discourses. (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
SMITH, D.S. 2023. One of the biggest threats to modern civilisation? The weaponisation of "wokeness" in the UK press and political discourses. Presented at the 2023 International PhD scholar conference: researching sensitive subjects and fragile lives, 5-7 December 2023, [virtual conference].

Though the term originated in the early twentieth century, it is only recently "wokeness" has become a staple of British media discourse. Typically, the concept features in commentaries and exchanges about institutional power, censorship, minority ri... Read More about One of the biggest threats to modern civilisation? The weaponisation of "wokeness" in the UK press and political discourses..

Why would anyone join the "nofap" movement? (2023)
Newspaper / Magazine
SMITH, D.S. 2023. Why would anyone join the "nofap" movement? Current affairs [online], 30 January 2023. Available from: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2023/01/making-sense-of-nofap-culture

In this contribution to "Current Affairs", the author explains the theory behind the "nofap" challenge, in which participants don't masturbate or watch porn. It has grown into a large online movement. The author explores the gender politics of these... Read More about Why would anyone join the "nofap" movement?.

Use of "gay dating apps" (GDAs) by men who have sex with men: different patterns and evaluation of such use in relation to individual well-being and collective identity processes. (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
ZERVOULIS, K., REED. R., SMITH, D.S. and DINOS, S. 2018. Use of "gay dating apps" (GDAs) by men who have sex with men: different patterns and evaluation of such use in relation to individual well-being and collective identity processes. Presented at the 2018 International LGBTQ psychology pre-conference: preaching to the choir (Preach 2018), 24-25 June 2018, Montreal, Canada.

There is growing literature and empirical work that is investigating if and how mobile phone and tablet dating apps are influencing the lives of their users. An online questionnaire-based study was developed to investigate how men who have sex with m... Read More about Use of "gay dating apps" (GDAs) by men who have sex with men: different patterns and evaluation of such use in relation to individual well-being and collective identity processes..

What the Five Foundations theory tells us about the Conservative and Labour party Twitter feeds. [Blog post] (2017)
Digital Artefact
SMITH, D.S. and BARONI, B. 2017. What the Five Foundations theory tells us about the Conservative and Labour party Twitter feeds. [Blog post]. Posted on the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) British and Irish Politics and Policy blog [online], 2 August 2017. Available from: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/five-foundations-theory-and-twitter/

In this blog post, authors David Smith and Beatrice Baroni argue that differences between the messages communicated by the two main parties through Twitter during the election campaign were consistent with differences between left- and right-wing mor... Read More about What the Five Foundations theory tells us about the Conservative and Labour party Twitter feeds. [Blog post].