How the Left Can Reclaim Digital Dominance and Rise Again
In the final instalment of this revealing series, we examine how internal conflicts have torn the left apart in the digital sphere while conservative movements have thrived. We also explore how some progressive voices are beginning to reverse this trend and forge a new path forward.
The Digital Divide: Left's Struggles in a Connected World
There exists a clear distinction between politics before the internet era and politics in our current hyper-connected age. While liberal voices appear to be floundering and right-wing groups are flourishing, the left finds itself in a particularly precarious position. This is especially striking given that the central political challenges of the past decade – including escalating inequality and the ongoing cost of living crisis – are precisely the types of problems that leftist ideologies claim to address most effectively.
The fundamental issue lies in how reactionary and right-wing voices consistently outmanoeuvre progressive messaging online. They rapidly disseminate narratives that attribute structural problems to convenient scapegoats, bypassing complex systemic analysis. One significant reason for this dynamic is that social platforms originally designed to connect friends and followers now primarily funnel users toward content engineered to provoke strong emotional reactions.
From Digital Promise to Algorithmic Reality
During the earlier days of social media, when Twitter still functioned as a digital "town square" and Facebook maintained its identity as a basic "social network," progressive movements enjoyed a distinct advantage. From the Arab Spring uprisings to the Occupy Wall Street movement, voices traditionally excluded from mainstream media and political discourse could leverage online networks to build real-world connections. At their most powerful, these digital movements transformed into street-level protests that challenged regimes and held capitalist systems to account. It appeared that scattered individuals might coalesce into a networked collective empowered to challenge established power structures.
However, the original model of friending and following imposed natural limits on engagement. Platforms soon recognised they needed to keep users logged in for longer periods. Instagram introduced "suggested posts" from accounts users didn't follow, while TikTok took this logic even further – users could simply sign up and start swiping without needing to establish social connections. This allowed creators with small followings to achieve viral status through engaging content, while users could immerse themselves in endless streams of short-form videos. Competitors like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts quickly entered this emerging market. Meanwhile, on the platform formerly known as Twitter, Elon Musk reinstated numerous far-right accounts and transformed the "for you" feed into a space where racism and hate speech could proliferate.
The Emotional Turn in Digital Politics
In essence, platforms that once offered spaces for reasoned debate and deliberation have increasingly shifted toward prioritising emotional content and immersive experiences. Reactionary and right-wing voices have adeptly adapted their narratives about who bears responsibility for the daily frustrations of late capitalist life to suit these new digital environments. Emotionally charged stories featuring elite villains and supposedly dangerous minority groups resonate powerfully within algorithmically curated spaces designed for endless scrolling through what feels like permanent crisis.
Meanwhile, liberal voices have continued to focus heavily on traditional media platforms including newspapers and broadcast debates, alongside follower-centric platforms like Bluesky. The left remains committed to what might be called residual media forms, launching new print and online journals while performing a delicate balancing act between appearing on traditional media outlets and criticising their limitations. Whether they acknowledge it or not, the left maintains a symbiotic relationship with liberal media institutions.
Critique Versus Construction in Progressive Media
Their critiques are often intellectually rigorous and politically significant. Figures like Novara Media's Ash Sarkar represent rare left-wing voices on televised discussion panels, while publications like Jacobin helped lay the groundwork for campaigns such as Zohran Mamdani's by providing space to develop democratic socialist ideas in countries where socialism remains a controversial term. Even prominent podcasts like Chapo Trap House, a key voice from America's "dirtbag left" – a loose collective of anti-capitalist and deliberately irreverent content creators – dedicate considerable airtime to critiquing mainstream outlets like the New York Times. While such criticism can be cathartic, it hardly matches the coordinated media ecosystems being built by conservative movements.
The political right has successfully established its own parallel media universe that largely avoids conventional news reporting. Instead, it presents compelling narratives about how shadowy institutions – whether described as the Cathedral, the matrix, or cultural Marxism – systematically deceive the public through mainstream media and attempt to control everyday behaviour. The reactionary right offers more than just xenophobia, racism, and misogyny; this online subculture also provides community belonging, dietary advice, natural medicine recommendations, and exercise regimens, all delivered through contemporary communicative forms like memes and live streams.
The Challenge of Left-Wing Digital Fragmentation
Rather than building cohesive alternative media ecosystems and amplifying each other's work, the left often demonstrates more internal competition than its conservative counterparts. While the right convenes intellectual networks like the "intellectual dark web" and "manosphere," left-wing digital media frequently appears as a scattered landscape of independent Substacks and social media commentators migrating between platforms. The relentless demands of the attention economy exacerbate longstanding leftist tendencies toward internal conflict – where debates involve not just ideological purity but practical concerns about making a living in the digital space.
Consider the example of Natalie Wynn, known online as ContraPoints, one of the left's more innovative creators who produces sophisticated YouTube video essays. She has elevated her work to auteur status by blending cinematic lighting techniques with French critical theory, camp dialogue, and incisive political analysis. Yet she frequently finds herself placed on a pedestal by some left-wing audiences only to be criticised by others within the same movement. Disagreement with Wynn's perspectives often manifests as accusations of "selling out," sometimes generating secondary "drama" content that further fragments progressive discourse.
Ideological Barriers and Missed Opportunities
Additionally, the centre-right often demonstrates willingness to engage with ideas from further right on the political spectrum, while liberals and leftists frequently resist substantive ideological exchange. Consider the ongoing tension between traditional socialist positions and the emerging theory of "economic abundance" being promoted within centrist Democratic circles in the United States. More energy has been expended on publishing critical takedowns than on exploring the substantial common ground both positions share regarding state intervention in the economy. Regardless of one's perspective, the "abundance" agenda has created potential openings for progressive politics that the right would typically exploit for momentum, while the left often focuses on identifying flaws.
Signs of Progressive Revival in Digital Spaces
Despite these challenges, there are emerging signs of vitality within the online left. Irish comedian Frankie McNamara, describing himself as a "toxic spirit guide," has transformed the social media vox pop format into a vehicle for deadpan commentary on cultural archetypes ranging from "hot new dads" to "wellness warriors." Meanwhile, The Elephant Graveyard's YouTube documentaries examining the cult surrounding Joe Rogan – created in the distinctive style of Adam Curtis but with added humour – have demonstrated that disdain can prove a more effective weapon against the manosphere than moral panic.
There are even indications that the pathway from online activism to concrete policy influence can function effectively for progressive causes. Palestinian-American influencer Kat Abughazaleh is translating arguments about Maga, ICE, and the situation in Gaza from TikTok directly into her surprising frontrunner congressional campaign. Whether she ultimately wins or loses, her campaign illustrates that the genuine power of online politics involves contesting how people perceive the world and what they consider politically achievable. The online right has concentrated on this ideological battle for over a decade. Now, increasing numbers on the left are beginning to move beyond internal conflicts and enter this crucial arena of digital influence.
