Louis Theroux’s long-anticipated Inside The Manosphere dropped last Thursday on Netflix: a 90-minute exploration of the hypermasculine, hypermisogynistic online influencers who’ve built massive followings and financial fortunes off of young men. Theroux spent the bulk of the runtime pressing the subjects – Harrison Sullivan (aka HStikkytokky), Justin Waller, Myron Gaines, Sneako, and Ed Matthews – on their extreme ideologies, shady business dealings, and traumatic upbringings, even probing their partners and family members for their candid thoughts.

Yet the young men actually buying into these figures appeared only in glimpses – typically brief, random public encounters. Viewers could be forgiven for wondering: Who actually makes up these audiences, and what draws them in? Using Young Men Research Project’s (YMRP) summer 2025 poll of U.S. men ages 18 to 29 – weighted to reflect Catalist’s estimate of a +5 Trump electorate – alongside Equimundo’s research, we hope to provide an evidence-based answer to this question.

To best capture the young men within the ‘manosphere,’ we filtered YMRP’s poll for young men who are both (a) familiar with and (b) like and trust Sneako and Andrew Tate. These two rank among the more recognizable (and hateful) figures within this space, though Tate’s footprint is noticeably larger. About 81 percent of young men overall were familiar with Tate, compared to 53 percent for Sneako. Among those familiar with each, 29 percent said they like and trust Tate — six points higher than Sneako. In other words, about one in four young men overall like and trust Tate, and just over one in ten for Sneako.

The data that follows are not meant to confirm causation for any particular question. For many of these fans – though not all, as research finds many young men stumble into misogynistic content by chance – there’s likely a mix at play: predispositions that draw them to this content in the first place, and the real influence these figures and young men’s broader social media diet exerts on their attitudes. That said, the correlation itself is meaningful, and the profiles both confirm and complicate common assumptions about who the manosphere is actually speaking to.

Manosphere fans are not financial nihilists – but they’re no less lonely.

Much of the discourse around the manosphere focuses on economic vulnerability – and for good reason. Most of these influencers follow the cookie-cutter model of funneling their followings into dubious supplements, investment groups, or exclusive academies like Hustler’s University, often at steep prices, and for these influencers’ gain. Gambling companies are deeply embedded in the manosphere economy, too, with Stake paying figures like Clavicular and Adin Ross to gamble on livestream while plastering their watermark across clips that go viral.

The Theroux documentary leaned into this narrative. One of its more poignant moments featured a self-proclaimed fan of Waller and Tate who’d recently overcome being unhoused, crediting his recovery to rejecting a victimhood mindset. “I was actually feeling sorry for myself,” he said. “As a man, nobody’s going to give you a handout.”

While many young men consuming this content are in financially perilous situations – and the promise of ‘getting rich’ is, in fact, central to the manosphere’s allure – those who like and trust these influencers skew higher-income than their peers, and are more optimistic about their futures. Per YMRP’s poll, 52 percent of Tate’s fans place themselves in the upper, upper-middle, or middle class, compared to 42 percent overall, and Sneako’s fans land even higher.

These young men also report greater financial stability and higher confidence they’ll achieve homeownership and afford to start a family: 78 percent of Tate’s fans, for example, say that the “American dream is attainable for me,” twenty points higher than the overall average. To be sure, these young men aren’t living Tate’s jet-setting lifestyle; only a small minority place themselves in the upper class, and they still very much want to get rich. But most aren’t floundering either, and are comparatively bullish about their futures.

Importantly, we find that these young men are no less lonely on average. Per YMRP’s poll, about 55 to 56 percent of Tate and Sneako’s fans agree that they “often feel lonely,” statistically identical to the overall average (54 percent). However, Tate and Sneako’s fans are slightly more likely to feel envious of the lifestyles they see on social media, perhaps due to the excessive focus within masculinity content on wealth, status, and attractiveness.

These young men hold traditionalist views on masculinity and gender.

Again, without pinning cause to correlation, we find that fans (those who like and trust) of Sneako and Tate are more likely to feel “masculine” themselves and to believe society should focus more on masculinity. Fifty-four percent of Tate’s fans identify as “masculine,” compared to 38 percent of young men overall. Similarly, about two in five say they’re glad men are “more focused on being masculine,” nearly double the overall average. While young men overall agree that providing for one’s family is the most important quality for men, Tate and Sneako fans place even greater weight on it, alongside physical strength and confidence.

These young men are also more likely to hold restrictive views on gender and sexuality, out of step with what most young men think. Nearly three in four fans of Tate (72 percent) agree that “things are generally better when men bring in money and women take care of the home and kids,” well above the overall average (46 percent). About two in three in both groups say feminism is about “favoring women over men,” versus 46 percent overall, while 78 percent in both groups agree that guys can have their reputations easily destroyed. In line with Equimundo’s “man box” model – which identifies homophobia as one of its seven pillars of restrictive masculinity – fans of both figures are also more likely to agree that “gay men aren’t real men.”

Resentments extend into dating, too. 75 percent of Tate’s fans and 70 percent of Sneako’s fans say women have “too many expectations” – compared to 60 percent overall – and both groups are more likely to believe society imposes unfair rules and norms upon men for dating.

What can we do?

Equimundo’s research highlights three key vulnerabilities that leave young men susceptible to these harmful influencers and communities: a desire to find community and belonging; a search for clear roadmaps to success; and romantic rejection or frustration. These communities can offer exactly what these young men are looking for, via emotional validation and accountability, as well as the aspirational outlooks that perhaps influence the higher optimism we see in the data. Additionally, savvy search engine optimization is instrumental to these influencers’ ability to pull young men in from innocent entry points, like searches for fitness advice or financial guidance, and push them towards more extreme content.

The harms – which are overlooked in Theroux’s work – extend to the men themselves, who are more likely to be excessively self-reliant, to see vulnerability as weakness, to suffer from greater depression and anxiety, and to even endorse strongman politics. They extend to women, who are more likely to experience violence, subordination, and degradation from those consuming this content: forthcoming research from Equimundo finds that young men in Brazil and South Africa who are exposed to misogynistic content are 2.6 to 2.8 times as likely to perpetrate violence against women and girls. These harms extend to all of us who have a stake in raising the next generation of compassionate boys and men.

The manosphere is filling a void for young men – one that must be filled with care and community. The forthcoming research cited above found that men in Brazil with high levels of social support were 80 percent less likely to perpetrate tech-facilitated violence against women and girls. Equimundo-led programs like the Young Men Media Collective are adapting to today’s digital world, supporting the next wave of influencers who can speak to aspiration and purpose, offering young men the tips and tools they need to feel confident in themselves and their future. Understanding what draws young men in, it’s our duty to reach young men with messages that acknowledge their vulnerability and celebrate their ambition.