Journal articleIssue 12025
Debate videos, polarizing content and warlike metaphors in conflictual online discourses
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author
Marios Moros
abstract
Debate videos have been taking social media platforms by storm in recent years, with the YouTube channel “Jubilee” as one of the most prominent audiovisual avenues for conflictual content. This study investigates what combative, warlike metaphors are at play in Jubilee's YouTube channel, metaphors that might be more polarizing than unifying. Through analysis of video titles, thumbnails, content categorization, and debate prompts, this paper examines how war metaphors are present throughout Jubilee's online presence and their role in debate content. The findings reveal that metaphors of war and combat commonly add polarizing elements to the rhetoric that may change the affective perception users have of debate content, transforming the platform into a participatory battlefield where everyone is invited to debate or fight.