The Exchange Model of Mainstreaming

This paper proposes a conceptual model of online mainstreaming. Themodel emphasizes communication flows and actor trajectories backand forth between center (the mainstream) and periphery (theextreme), identifying a logic of exchange as a key driver of contem-porary mainstreaming processes. The model illustrates a perpetualexchange of content, actors, and practices between mainstream andoff-mainstream domains. The paper focuses on three under-theorizedaspects of mainstreaming in the digital age: (1) the linguistic config-uration of the concepts of extremism and mainstreaming, includingtheir inherent spatiality; (2) the possible significance of mundane andarbitrary media practices rather than intentional and strategic engage-ment of extremists; and (3) the enabling and constraining conditionsof online platforms and internet culture. Understanding the exchangelogic of mainstreaming can help scholars, media professionals, andsecurity practitioners to better distinguish between controversial andharmful phenomena in a hybrid and fragmented media environment.