Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media

by P.W. Singer

While many had gotten their start on 4chan, a notorious image board where anonymous users fight an endless battle of profane one-upmanship, the group is better understood through what is known as “Poe’s Law.” This is an internet adage that emerged from troll-infested arguments on the website Christian Forums. The law states, “Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a [fundamentalist] in such a way that someone won’t mistake it for the genuine article.” In other words, there is a point at which the most sincere profession of faith becomes indistinguishable from a parody; where a simple, stupid statement might actually be considered an act of profound meta-irony. Taken to its logical conclusion, Poe’s Law could lead to a place of profound nihilism, where nothing matters and everything is a joke. And this was exactly where many of these internet denizens took it.