Current Events > How did conspiracy theorists become so mainstream

(+) Yeah! (+)

There wasn't some big theory that came true or anything. The host of The Apprentice went on social media and said he should be President and millions of people, including roughly half of our politicians accepted that he was being conspired against. At this point , it would probably be the deepest conspiracy in the history of mankind and people are like "Well yeah that's how much the establishment fears Trump!"

It's stupid and insane and I hate this planet.

Because Donald Trump weaponized the Dunning-Kruger Effect

4Channers grew up and can now vote.

Internet

hockeybub89 posted...

There wasn't some big theory that came true or anything

"Pedophile island for the elites" was a pretty big conspiracy that came true but I feel like the conspiracy theorists blew up right before Trump was elected.

Step 1: Find someone with minimal legit education
Step 2: Siphon them into a political echo chamber of like-minded individuals
Step 3: Tell them to "do their own research" without explaining how actual research is done
Step 4: ...
Step 5: Profit

you gotta think about shit like this from a people perspective.
back in the day, conspiracy theorists had no platform. they could shout outside the coffee shop, or scare off their friends and family by talking about all their weird shit.

but now, in the interbutts age? they have a massive platform. a platform that can connect them with other like-minded people. a platform where they can present false information and other people will argue on their behalf to dissuade others from fact-checking or asking for evidence.

so they get a small following at first, a few hundred people or so... and then the human thing happens. "well, a bunch of people agree with this. it must have some merit!" says Joe Normalguy. Then Susy Everygirl sees that her crush Joe Normalguy is a supporter, and becomes one herself, wanting to stay in Joe's good graces. Joe tells his friends about the videos, and they start watching. and it just snowballs from there. more and more people see it, and through confirmation bias or the good ol' bandwagon, it continues to gain steam until it no longer seems like a conspiracy and there are enough people 'confirming' it that it becomes easier and easier for more and more people to believe

people like donald duck already have a massive following so there is half a nation worth of people ready to defend whatever he says and present any argument or misinformation necessary to be on the side of right

The honest justifications of our economic status quo - widening inequality, stagnant wages, etc. - have become so weak that the propagandists have had to create increasingly lurid fictions in order to gin up a modicum of public support for it.

Libertarian/Conservative media and influencers are so rife with scams because they only have unilateral skepticism.