As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we seek improvements in the world toward gender equality and inclusivity. Sadly, on social media this year, we are seeing the opposite. The rise in “tech bro” culture and content and the reduction in moderation is driving negativity toward women and other marginalized groups.
We’ve spent years watching the digital industry grow and evolve, and frankly, what we’re seeing right now is concerning. The platforms we rely on to build community and grow businesses are being transformed by the decisions of a small but influential group of tech leaders—recently referred to as a “broligarchy”—which includes some of the most visible innovators and entrepreneurs in the world.
Social media acts as a mirror to society, magnifying human behavior. It’s an incredibly powerful global tool that has the ability to shape and inform societal shifts in opinion, and how we behave toward each other in real life. The lack of female tech entrepreneurs and voices of women and marginalized communities in these boardrooms is driving a real power imbalance, exacerbated by recent political events.
What exactly is the broligarchy?
The term burst into the mainstream last year when The Guardian highlighted how this circle was aligning themselves with Donald Trump. Our own research, alongside data from Talkwalker, shows that mentions of the term “broligarchy” have become much more popular over the past year, with over 248,000 mentions globally across social media. The sentiment? Overwhelmingly negative. And the biggest face of the broligarchy? No surprise, it’s Elon Musk, who dominated the conversation more than 12 times over compared to his tech counterparts.
The values set at the top inevitably shape the spaces we create. And when inclusive, diverse values guide platform policies and algorithms, the positive impact can be felt by everyone. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true.
We are seeing the consequences firsthand. Women—who are the most active users, posters, and trend adopters on social platforms—are often confronted with harassment and misogyny. Our research uncovered sobering figures: Mentions of terms like “feminazi” are up 37% year over year. Gendered slurs like “bitch” have risen 14%. Just as alarmingly, discussions around physically violent language, like “choking women,” climbed 11%.