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.
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.
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.