Despicable “we”: Anti-mainstream reputation in the Italian Telegramsphere

This paper investigates the rise of anti-mainstream figures in the Italian Telegramsphere and their role within Italy’s hybrid media system. It focuses on how claims of censorship and marginalization can coexist with substantial cross-platform visibility, including visibility on mainstream platforms. To address this paradox, we combined cross-platform mapping and qualitative analysis. Starting from 24 seed channels associated with conspiratorial and anti-mainstream content, the study reconstructs a broader network of 538 Telegram channels and examines the platform ecologies of the 413 channels that remained accessible one year later. Rather than forming self-contained alternative ecologies, these figures typically combine Telegram with mainstream services, using Telegram as a hub for the circulation of oppositional narratives and for the cultivation of direct audience ties. The qualitative analysis identifies four recurring rhetorical personas through which outsiderhood is leveraged: the Hero, the Rascal, the Professional, and the Faceless Ally. We argue that anti-mainstream visibility in Italy is built through the strategic conversion of exclusion, condemnation, and despicability into solidarity, support, and professional legitimacy.