ABSTRACT
Elliot Rodger's actions on his "Day of Retribution", along with his self-produced videos and his 140-page auto biography, left many who commented in the mainstream media, in the tabloids, and on social media trying to make sense of the violence. The media calls Rodger's autobiography a "manifesto" as if it were the political ravings of a lunatic. A striking feature of Rodger's story is the role that digital spaces play in allowing us to trace the unfolding of the tragedy he enacted. In many ways, at least initially, Rodger's engagement with digital worlds seems completely normal, even typical for many adolescents. A common enough sense of dissociation that occurs for many people was aggravated in Rodger's case by a peculiar mix of sexual inadequacy, racial shame, a privileged but unearned milieu, and a community. On his "Day of Retribution", Elliot Rodger sought the visibility he craved, the tragic murder/suicide that would confirm him as both victim and victimizer.
