Justin Waller is an influencer focused on productivity, masculinity, and making money.  Standing on the balcony of his Miami apartment, his second property, Justin asks: ‘Look  around. Can you name anything that a woman has invented and built in our plain sight?’ He  answers his own question: ‘Nothing. Men built all these buildings. They engineered them,  they designed them.’  

If you haven’t seen Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, it is a documentary that explores  the growing group of young male influencers who form the new generation of the  ‘manosphere’, promoting hypermasculinity as a source of meaning and identity. Theroux  engages with many well-known figures from this online subculture, including Justin Waller,  HStikkytokky (Harrison Sullivan), and Myron Gaines. Throughout the documentary, these  men make a number of absurd and unfounded claims; for them, being assertive and confident  seems to be more important than the truth, and many online fans are attracted to their  authority. 

Justin Waller bolsters his claim by assuring a doubtful Louis Theroux that ‘it is a fact’.  However, multiple key female figures are identifiable in Miami’s physical landscape, like architect Zaha Hadid whose One Thousand Museum is a prominent feature of the city’s skyline. Lissette Calderon is the founder and CEO of the real estate firm Neology Group, and  is known as the ‘queen of the Miami river’ for her numerous residential developments there.  Marion Manley, the first licensed female architect in Miami, designed some the original  University of Miami buildings, as well as being involved in many other projects in the city. 

Not only have women had leading roles in important building projects in Miami, but they  have also been involved in the building process. An analysis based on data from a 2024 survey shows a ranked list of states by percentage of women employed in construction, with  Florida placing second at 13.5%. With 657,400 construction workers in Florida in December  of 2024, that would mean that 88,749 of them were women. Waller’s claim is entirely  unfounded. 

It is widely acknowledged that ‘confidence is key’. For example, the ‘Confidence heuristic’ states that where two people who hold different information try to come to a decision  together, arguments may be perceived as more reliable if they are expressed confidently. Justin Waller speaks and holds himself confidently, as do most of the ‘manosphere’  influencers, but some of his statements are glaringly untruthful; ‘it is a fact’ feels like the  grown-up equivalent of ‘because I told you so’, a power play in which the most forceful  speaker comes out on top. This method of argument completely disregards receptivity, a key  aspect of critical thinking.  

Social media is immersive. It pulls you into an imaginary world catered to your interests, one  that amplifies certain problems and constantly reinforces certain messages or attitudes. While  scrolling may be an appealing pastime, the risk that it poses on our receptivity is concerning.  Unlike other forms of media which are not catered especially for an individual viewer, social  media plays to previously held beliefs rather than exposing its viewers to new ones. Content  

creators do not have to substantiate their claims, and if they do, it does not need to be with a  reputable source. While this is natural for a non-academic platform such as social media, it  can become a problem when opinions and biases begin to be portrayed as facts. 

A belief these male influencers seem to share is that they know what is best for women. Myron states that women love assertive men, and that ‘since I understand them, I know  what’s best for them,’ but when his girlfriend Angie suggests that she is uncomfortable with  his desire for multiple wives, he ushers her out of the room. Similarly, he messages one of the  women who work behind the scenes of his show ‘Fresh&Fit’ with orders to stop speaking to  Louis out of his earshot. Myron’s statement that he knows better than women do about what  is right for them depends on his voice being the loudest and the most assertive. By silencing  the women he fears may challenge his opinion, Myron is able to retain the loudest voice in  the room.  

Another striking moment was Harrison’s assertion that ‘most [women] are thick’, followed  by his mother’s reply: ‘sorry, in the handful you’ve met?’ Besides the immediate comedy that this moment provides, his mother’s quip points to the lack of justification for Harrison’s  claim. To state that ‘most women’ are anything would imply that one had met at the very  least a substantial and varied cross section. However, he admits himself that he surrounds  himself with young women who use OnlyFans, despite his disdain for the platform and its  users, for ‘clout’. To use a small group of women to make an observation about the female  population at large would simply be inaccurate, especially if they are a select few who share  values that one resents.

Social media has a similar effect. These men surround themselves with influencers whose  beliefs they share, making a fool of anyone who disagrees. By avoiding and actively stifling the voices that they don’t agree with, these men gain confidence and a sense of certainty  which becomes infinitely more difficult to budge.  

We all believe that our views are the ‘right’ ones, but that is the very reason that seeking  opposing views is so valuable. While social media is an unavoidable part of life, it is important to recognise that it is an echo chamber, designed to bring us content that will please  us to keep us scrolling. Seeking intellectual and ideological challenges can prevent us from  falling victim to this passive way of thinking, becoming close-minded and driven solely by  our emotions, by ensuring that we are exposed to a variety of untailored views regularly.  While doing so can be uncomfortable, it encourages us to adopt nuance in our views, be  considerate to others, and if nothing else, to strengthen our own arguments. It can allow us to  reach for something more substantial in our arguments than that empty statement: ‘it is a  fact.’