“Heil Sol Brah”: Community-building practices around far-right masculinist influencers

In this article, we explore community-building practices among followers of far-right masculinist influencers. Utilising visual ethnography and netnography, we examine the Right-Wing Bodybuilder (RWBB) community on the platform X and focus on how followers cohere around and promote two previously pseudonymous influencers: Sol Brah and Bronze Age Pervert. Our analysis of memes produced by these follower communities highlights the participatory nature of culting influencers, a process that fosters community-building and reinforces in-group cohesion. We also show how follower communities facilitate message uptake by disseminating influencer messages and mobilising against threats to their credibility from adversaries. Our article contributes to influencer studies by examining the reciprocal dynamics between influencers and followers through these engagement practices.