Have you heard of the Manosphere? Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary Inside the Manosphere arrived at a timely moment. It did what good journalism does: it made a sprawling, shape-shifting digital ecosystem visible that is actively shaping the worldview of millions of young men, including boys as young as ten.

The conversation it sparked matters not just for parents and educators, but also for brands and marketers. Because the manosphere is not a corner of the internet that can be ignored. It is a media environment with its own creators, audiences, and business models. Since 20% of men actively participate in online “men’s issue” spaces, understanding it is no longer optional for anyone whose audience includes men and boys.

What is the manosphere, why is it emerging now, and what does this mean for brands that want to engage with male audiences thoughtfully and responsibly?

What is the Manosphere exactly?

The manosphere is not a single platform or community, but a loosely connected ecosystem of male-oriented content creators such as coaches, influencers, podcasters, bloggers, and commentators who share a broadly conservative or traditionalist vision of masculinity. They can be found on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Twitch, Reddit, and in the comment sections of gaming streams. Their reach is far wider than most people assume. The term itself dates back to the early 2000s, rooted in men’s rights forums and artist blogs, but the manosphere gained significant mainstream traction around 2016 to 2020, fueled by growing backlash against feminist discourse, the rise of figures like Jordan Peterson, and the algorithmic amplification of provocative male-focused content on social media.

Their content ranges in intensity. At the milder end, you find advice on fitness, productivity, financial independence, and dating. At the more extreme end, communities like the Red Pill, MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way), and incel forums promote explicitly misogynistic worldviews. But what unites these spheres across the entire spectrum is an underlying current: the belief that men are under threat, that masculinity is being suppressed, and that a return to traditional gender roles is both desirable and necessary.

As research by De Groene Amsterdammer has shown, the (Dutch) manosphere does not operate in isolation and is not one single subculture on the internet. Its creators are what we might call island-hoppers: they move fluidly between subcultures, appearing in the feeds of users who would never actively seek out this type of content. They surface through entrepreneurship accounts, spiritual and religious channels, fitness communities, and lifestyle content.

The sociocultural roots

To understand the manosphere, brands must resist the temptation to reduce it to a problem of only bad actors. The manosphere identified a genuine cultural vacuum and filled it.

1. The crisis of male identity

Over the past three decades, the ideas that once defined manhood (breadwinner, protector, head of household) have changed a lot. In many ways, this is positive progress. But changes on this scale rarely come with enough support to adjust. Many men and boys are left asking: what does it mean to be a man today? Without clear guidance, mentors, or language to help them answer that question.

Terms like “looksmaxxing” fit into this dynamic. They offer a highly individual, appearance-focused answer to the same underlying uncertainty: if traditional roles are unclear, then physical self-optimisation becomes a controllable way to pursue status, confidence, and belonging.

The manosphere answers that question with algorithmic reach. Whether or not the answer is healthy or accurate is almost beside the point, because nothing comparable is competing for that space with equal energy or accessibility.

2. Homosociality and the collapse of male spaces

Academic researcher Eve Kosofsky uses the term homosociality to describe the way men organise their emotional and social lives around the approval and company of other men. Historically, this played out through structured institutions: military service or sports clubs. These spaces were also where masculinity was modelled and transmitted across generations.

Many of these structures have eroded. Rates of male friendship, community participation, and social belonging have declined significantly in Western countries. Men are less likely than women to maintain close friendships, seek emotional support, or belong to a community organisation. The manosphere fills this gap digitally, offering brotherhood, shared identity, and a sense of belonging to young men who feel socially left out.

3. Instability and economic anxiety

The manosphere is not a uniform phenomenon across class or education. But it thrives wherever men experience a gap between expectation and reality. Young men who grew up expecting a clear path (education, career, relationship, status) and found the doors closed or the rules changed are particularly vulnerable.

With a looming sense of global instability, economic anxiety has created a generation of men who feel that the system has failed them. The manosphere is mostly wrong about the causes, such as blaming feminism or political correctness. But the sense that men are facing real, broader problems is not entirely mistaken.

4. The absence of mentorship

One of the most striking findings across manosphere research is how consistently young men describe finding in these creators a replacement for male guidance they lack elsewhere. Teachers and institutions have failed to make young men feel seen. A broader culture that often frames masculinity itself as the problem to be solved has widened this gap. There is a trust gap if you look at the numbers too: 60% of men turn to podcasters (like Joe Rogan or others in the manosphere orbit) because they feel traditional politics is “alienating or judgmental”.

Influencers like Andrew Tate offer something that feels like mentorship: unapologetic guidance on how to be a man. The relationship is essentially transactional; they are selling courses, subscriptions, and access to a community. But this does not make it any less appealing to the young men who engage with it.

5. The algorithm as an accelerant

Within a few hundred autoplay videos on a blank timeline, a viewer can be moved from general lifestyle content to increasingly extreme perspectives on gender, race, and society. The recommendation algorithms of YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify are not neutral. They optimise for engagement, and outrage, grievance, and identity threat are among the most engaging emotional states there are. Also, 57% of men state their social media feeds have grown “more extreme” over time, suggesting they are not always seeking this content; it is being served to them.

Understand, move and elevate

The manosphere is not going away. It speaks too directly to needs that are real and that mainstream culture has largely failed to address: belonging, identity, status, purpose, and the simple desire to be told, with conviction, that being a man is something worth being proud of.

The manosphere is, at its core, also a commercial ecosystem. What these creators have understood is that young men are hungry for a sense of identity, mastery, and community, and are willing to pay for it. It offers a coherent (if distorted) answer to the question “who are you as a man?” and then sells access to a tribe of others who share that answer. Its values increasingly shape how young men relate to gender, relationships, and the world.

1.The young men engaging with manosphere content are not a monolith of radicalised misogynists. Most are confused, lonely, and looking for direction. Brands that engage male audiences (in fitness, gaming, finance, automotive, and beyond) need a more nuanced model of young male identity.

2. Dismissing or lecturing young men who find community in the manosphere is ineffective and often makes things worse. It reinforces the idea that mainstream culture is against them.

What works, as shown in youth mentoring, counter-extremism, and public health programmes, includes prebunking (helping people recognise manipulative content before they encounter it).

Brands with reach and resources can support these interventions directly through partnerships with civil society organisations, through the content they fund, and through the communities they are actively building.

We have been tracking gender trends for over years at TrendsActive. If you want to explore more, you can give “Is this hidden crisis fueling toxic masculinity?” a read. Or “Has Gen Z become more conservative?”

All I can say is: enough food for thought.