The Internet and the Spread of Conspiracy Content1

Abstract

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Information literacy challenges in digital culture: conflicting engagements of trust and doubt

“…Conspiracy theories are certainly not new, but in recent decades have developed into part of contemporary culture, particularly youth culture, in new ways (Barkun, 2013). This is closely related to how social media and recommender systems thrive on the algorithmic amplification of the outrageous and the extreme (Stano, 2020). Those, largely due to their business models, often prioritize popularity.…”

The COVID‐19 pandemic and the search for structure: Social media and conspiracy theories

“…Conversely, other scholars argue the internet provides fertile ground for conspiracy theories to spread. They assert that social media's pervasiveness lowers barriers to access, exposing potential believers directly to conspiracy theories via sites like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube (Douglas, Ang, et al., 2017 ; Stano, 2020 ). We engage in this debate, proposing a framework to describe how the COVID‐19 pandemic and attempts to contain it create nearly ideal conditions for social media to uniquely contribute to the spread and stickiness of conspiracy theories.…”

“…Prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic, researchers examined the key antecedents that lead to conspiracy theories’ spread (i.e., the rate at which conspiracy theories are communicated from person to person; Franks et al., 2013 ) and stickiness (i.e., the extent to which belief in conspiracy theories “takes root” and becomes difficult to change; Jolley & Douglas, 2017 ). Some work argues that the internet does not affect the propagation of conspiracy theories (Uscinski & Parent, 2014 ) or can even impede it (Clarke, 2007 ; Uscinski et al., 2018 ), others suggest that aspects of the internet critically enabled conspiracy theories to spread and stick (Stano, 2020 ). We join the latter group and conclude that, particularly in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic, social media—i.e., internet spaces where people share information, ideas, and personal messages and form communities (Merriam‐Webster, 2021 )—has played a central role in conspiracy beliefs.…”

From the Fringe to the Fore: An Algorithmic Ethnography of the Far-Right Conspiracy Theory Group QAnon

“…However, the social media landscape has allowed for the elevation of once-fringe and radical ideas to the level of national prominence, with figures like Alex Jones establishing entire alternative news networks that boast sizeable audiences and platform conspiracy theorists (Southern Poverty Law Center 2020). Promoters of these conspiracy theories, which have been a long-standing feature of American identity and discourse (Hofstadter [1964] 2012; Walker 2014), have increasingly leveraged the open-access nature of the internet to rival the power of epistemic authorities (Stano 2020). Together, these trends indicate that national truth-making is changing, as traditional mainstream media must contend with its alternates, including both fringe news networks and social media.…”