It's odd cause 10 years ago 4chan trolled in the exact different direction. Would love to read a book about political reckonings that come from this tiny dark corner of the net.
- Aug/Sep 2016 (or a short while before that): People made up thr term "alt-right" to be used as the opposite of "regressive-left". People there did not call themselves that.
- Oct 2016: 4chan was mostly busy with all the Wikileaks stuff and I did not see the term used that much.
- Oct (end)/Nov 2016: Some people (not even on 4chan started to call many things that are pro-Trump or "tried to be" objective (non Trump or Hillary) alt-right.
The general message that started to come up at that time: "The alt-right are spreading fake news".
- Dec 2016/Jan 2017: People suddenly started to identify themselves with alt-right.
Update:
Google trends timeline: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&q...
Yes, the division between groups (pro/anti) created while gamergate was going on were about the same. On one side people calling for social justice on the other side the people that in a way are against social justice + the ones that did not want to choose a side.
At the beginning gamergate was just about ethics in journalism (mostly in gaming).
The Trump and (early on) Carson supporters needed a term to distinguish themselves from the established Republican base, consisting largely of neocons and evangelicals, with their rather different ideological concerns. "Alt-right" offered the vaguely young/edgy and sans-culottesque character they needed.
Example: Cernovich works with Fairbanks who is employed by Russian propaganda site Sputnik.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics...
Same with Farage in the UK - he's worked with Russia.
See http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/insider-the-alt-right-al... Russia has log bankrolled Europe's far right. http://observer.com/2016/10/putins-support-for-europes-far-r...