Summary
The “Rogansphere,” a sprawling ecosystem of podcasts and online shows led by figures like Joe Rogan, has become a powerful cultural force for younger audiences, functioning as a “Fox News for the young.”
With its mix of anti-establishment rhetoric, distrust of Democrats, and casual conversations blending left-leaning and conservative ideas, it normalizes figures like Donald Trump for a disillusioned, lonely audience—particularly young men.
Democrats risk underestimating its influence, as this ecosystem fosters deep listener loyalty and has contributed to a significant shift in young male voters toward Trump.
The problem is that Rogan is the beginning of algorithmic rabbit holes that relatively quickly draw people into further right-wing political commentary, pundits like Ben Shapiro or Matt Walsh or Tim Pool start popping up more and more on recommended pages, for whatever criteria the almighty algorithm had decided Joe Rogan and right-wing pundits have in common.
He might not seem very political, but he has politically engaged figures on his show quite often.
Even on my own YouTube, I actively curate the recommendations and channels that get suggested to me and tend to cut out the extreme right wing and I still get suggestions for anti-woke conservative videos.
Rogan is an inflection point that leads many people to right wingers.
For reasons I cannot explain sufficiently, YouTube seem to be in full we-have-no-ideas panic mode and spitting out lots of right wing crap regardless of what your algorithms used to be.
The best thing one can do on YouTube (alas, I’m a Premium subscriber I must admit), is TURNING OFF VIEWING HISTORY.
I cannot emphasise this enough, please show your parents, your children or cousins how to turn it off. It makes your viewing experience so much better.
I keep getting youtube videos from folks with a thousand subscribers max, I think youtube just kinda imploded somewhat.
Those other guys you mentioned are certified douchebags. Joe Rogan is way more moderate than those clowns.
If Tim pool appeals to young people, then we have to ask ourselves why. It’s not because they may like Joe Rogan. I have a maga buddy who is a huge pool fan but doesn’t like Rogan
Congratulations you’ve pointed out the obvious they’re douchebags who lean further right than rogan, it doesn’t change the fact that algorithms have linked Rogan with these douchebags.
No need to act like you’re better than me for whatever reason. It sounds like you’re blaming Rogan instead of the algorithms. If that’s not good enough then shout at the sky because hacks like Tim Pool exist. You all are going out of your way to blame something else that isn’t even the problem to begin with.
You need to work on your reading comprehension. I am primarily pinning it on the algorithm but I’m also pointing out that Rogan’s podcast is leading people to right-wing commentators, partly because of the guests he has on and partly because the algorithms push people in that direction.
He has plenty of left wing guests on. I have no idea what the situation is with algorithms because I don’t get any right wing nonsense in my feed despite watching Rogan from time to time.
I will say that I checked my ChatGPT and it thinks I’m a right winger because I’m always fact checking my maga friend. What I’m saying is that if people are like me and have right wing friends they argue with, they may get flagged as right wing just from checking their links.
People often think propaganda is done by hiding something or lying. More often they don’t need to do either of those things. Once you have a pulpit it’s more about who you choose to elevate and amplify.