What We're Missing About the Rise of Masculinity Influencers

Certainty is the hook. Masculinity is the bait.

The algorithm knows what boys want

Louise Theroux’s newly released documentary “Inside the Manosphere” gives us an inside peak at some of the content young men have been navigating and consuming for quite some time. Whether that be uncovering the range of “get rich quick” trading and investment schemes peddled by these influences to their young audiences (which just so happen to line the influencer’s pockets) or the deeply misogynistic and highly dangerous ideologies visible throughout these spaces, such as the assertion that men should be a “dictator” in their romantic relationships (because men know what women want... more so than women do). We know that some male viewers are taking in and internalising these ideas, an outcome poignantly displayed by Theroux’s conversation with a young fan, who between regurgitated ‘manosphere’ tag lines including: “as a man, nobody is going to give you a hand out” and that he doesn’t “believe in depression”, tragically discloses his own experiences of homelessness and his brother’s suicide.

It’s easy to see isolated video examples as a direct reflection of young men’s values, beliefs and behaviours. But the reality is more grey. Young men’s online worlds are curated by a cacophony of voices and a spectrum of men and masculinity-oriented content, purposefully curated to keep them scrolling for longer and more often.

Across three countries (US, UK and Australia), our Young Men’s Health in a Digital World research report from the Movember Institute of Men’s Health found that 63% of young men aged 16-25 are regularly consuming masculinity influencer content. But here’s what’s truly striking: these same young men have heightened optimism about their futures and are experiencing higher rates of psychological ​​distress, compared to their peers who don’t engage with this content.

This paradox of optimism about their future despite heightened levels of psychological distress, reveals something profound about what's happening to young men today, and why traditional approaches to helping them have fallen so drastically short.

The certainty industrial complex

To understand the paradox, we need to look more closely at the appeal of masculinity influencers. Part of why these influencers are so successful is because they are tapping into something psychologists call an “intolerance of uncertainty“, the tendency to find ambiguous situations distressing and threatening. For adolescents, who are still developing the capacity to manage complex emotions and situations, this intolerance peaks precisely when life becomes most uncertain (i.e., adolescence). During this period of life, young men are asking important existential questions about who they are and who they want to be.

Intolerance of uncertainty is a core component of anxiety. Anxiety disorders affect roughly one in five men globally (113 million males), making them the most common mental health condition experienced by men. Young males aged 10–24 years constitute 12% of the global anxiety prevalence (5.48 million). Symptoms of anxiety typically emerge during turbulent adolescent years when uncertainty feels most overwhelming.

While girls’ anxiety often manifests as internalised distress, we know from our own work that boys are more likely to seek external sources of control and certainty. Enter masculinity influencers, who have built a career and livelihood around providing exactly that. Some may have well-meaning objectives of sharing their own lived experiences for mutual gain, others are just grifters, but all are operating in an online system that weaponises young men’s attention.

The three pillars of influence

From our research analysing thousands of hours of masculinity influencer content, we propose three key but overlapping archetypes of masculine influence:

• The Alpha Prophets: This content positions masculinity influencers as apex males who’ve “cracked the code” of success, wealth, and women. Content is built on stark binaries - winner/loser, alpha/beta, high-value/low-value - that eliminate ambiguity. “There are only two types of men,” Tate frequently declares, “those who get what they want, and those who make excuses.”

• The Intellectual Authorities: Cloaking certainty in “scientific evidence” and weakly evidenced or largely disproven biological determinism. For example, Gad Saad draws on evolutionary psychology to explain intimacy, relationships and gender dynamics in numerous books and podcasts. These influencers also offer expert explanations for complex social phenomena. Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life” for example distils nuanced relationship/wellbeing issues and life challenges into a set of actionable rules with the aim of restoring order and meaning.

• The Transformation Gurus: Through advice on self-optimisation and entrepreneurship, these archetypes of masculinity propose that the right combination of routines, mindset shifts, investments and supplements will solve everything from social anxiety to romantic failures. Content is algorithmically optimized for engagement, with before/after transformations or success stories and testimonials cultivating aspiration and motivation amongst viewers. David Goggins is a prominent figure whose mental toughness, regimented fitness routine and inspiring life story serve as powerful drivers encouraging young male audiences to push beyond their limits.

Many young men are drawn to the confidence and assuredness that masculinity influencers project. So much so that young men all around the world are clocking up hours per day watching influencers’ content, and in some instances, even paying to access courses or join exclusive communities (e.g., personalised coaching, exclusive access to a like-minded online community).

Aspiring towards certain things you want, but do not have - be it a new car, a muscular physique, a girlfriend or relationship, can be incredibly gratifying. It inspires a sense of future-oriented momentum. Even before these goals are actualised, the direction ahead can seem clear-cut and straight forward.

But masculinity-oriented content creates borrowed confidence. Young men feel temporarily empowered by these rigid frameworks and the promises of success and happiness. But what happens when these frameworks don’t match the complexity of their real-life experiences? Or when young men don’t, or can’t, achieve the success they’ve been promised? When the bar for success is sky high, falling short can feel crushing. Often what catches young men isn’t self-acceptance and connection, but shame and self-blame.

Movember’s Young Men’s Lives in a Digital World study: When certainty backfires

Our study of 3,048 young men across the US, UK, and Australia reveals the hidden costs of this certainty economy. We uncovered the offline implications of young men’s online worlds, comparing those who regularly consumed masculinity influencer content with those who didn’t.

The results were paradoxical:

• Short-term gains: Young men watching masculinity influencers showed 16% higher scores on measures of future optimism. They reported more positive emotional benefits (58% were happy) from acting on masculinity influencers advice than negative (2% were unhappy).

• Long-term costs: The same group showed 7% higher rates of anxiety – 26% felt so nervous nothing could calm them down and were twice as likely to use performance-enhancing substances compared to non-engagers.

• The perfectionism trap: Perhaps most tellingly, these young men scored roughly 20% higher on rigid masculine measures of self-reliance and emotional restriction when compared to young men who aren’t watching masculinity influencers.

Beyond the binary: What actually works

Creating and supporting opportunities for young men to share their struggles is essential. Based on our research, here’s what a comprehensive response might look like:

1. Reframe uncertainty as normal. Rather than viewing ambiguity and uncertainty as weakness, we need to help young men see it as a normal part of adulthood. We need to shift online hyper-individualistic masculine narratives shaming men who don’t have it “figured out,” to a place where authentically sharing failure, fuckups and fragility become a foundation of masculine camaraderie. To do that effectively young men must have the skills and support to tolerate uncertainty and the visceral distress it may provoke. This means teaching and promoting skills like:

   • Awareness and Mindfulness (non-judgemental refocusing on the present moment)

   • Emotion regulation (recognising and managing anxious emotions and their precursors. to respond adaptively in the face of anger, shame or rejection)

   • Acceptance (embracing anxious feelings without judgement or avoidance)

2. Foster friendship and connection. We need systematic approaches to reach out and connect disconnected and lonely young men. When used for good, social media and online communities have tremendous opportunities to turn the tide of rising male loneliness and social isolation. For example, some studies have found that social media allowed young men in particular greater ability to express their vulnerability freely, explore their sexuality and connect with others. Finding “good male role models” isn’t enough, it’s about practical and tangible ways young men can practice friendship - offering and receiving support - and connect deeply and authentically in ways they can’t offline.

3. Address the platform problem We cannot ignore that these conversations are happening primarily on social media platforms optimised for engagement rather than truth or user wellbeing. This means:

   • Supporting and amplifying creators who model broader versions of masculinity. Movember and Equimundo, along with co-funding from the Oak Foundation, are convening the Young Men’s Media Collective to convene content creators and support projects that produce content that speaks to young men and disrupts harmful narratives.

   • Developing and promoting features that encourage intentional social media use (i.e., taking control of your algorithm, setting screen times, values-aligned content consumption)

   • Increasing media and algorithmic literacy to empower critical appraisal skills

   • Policy reform to ensure safety of children and young people online

Summary: The stakes couldn’t be higher

This isn’t just about helping individual young men, though that would be reason enough. How this generation comes to understand masculinity will shape important aspects of identity and behaviour, from personal relationships to political discourse to the future of gender equality itself.

We must learn from what masculinity influencers do well. And we must instead offer something better: certainty about values rather than answers, communities built on growth and connection rather than hierarchy and instant wealth, and strength that integrates rather than excludes vulnerability. We have the opportunity to raise a generation of young men who can thrive in moments of uncertainty and instability while helping others do the same.

The path forward isn’t about rejecting masculinity but reimagining what it means to be a man. We should encourage men to embrace and embody an ever-evolving set of values that provides guidance without demanding perfection, community without requiring conformity, and strength that includes the courage to say “I don’t know, but I’m willing to learn.” And young men can’t be left to figure it out alone. They need communities that can hold space for their struggles while helping them grow into the men our world needs them to become.