It is easy to believe scientific evidence, but have you tried questioning everything around you? Conspiracy theories have been whispered through society for ages, yet believers seem more vocal in recent times. Through social media, such theories can be spread easily and quickly (Min, 2021). Believing in conspiracy theories and falling for misinformation has been associated with social media usage by many authors (Enders et al., 2021). The so-called “echo chamber” is often blamed, as it efficiently places individuals in silos of like-minded others, purposely feeding them information that suits their ideological beliefs (Sunstein, 2017). As such, social media has shamelessly promoted conspiracies and misinformation, facilitating it to spread substantially in the process (Enders et al., 2021).
Conspiracy theories have a top-down (e.g., covid is a hoax to vaccinate everyone with 5G-chips), bottom-up (e.g., capitol riots) or event-driven shape (e.g., the moon landing)(Stuttaford, 2021). While some theories seem harmless, others have real societal impacts. The “anti-vax” movement or the storming of the U.S. capitol at the beginning of 2021 are examples of those real-life repercussions (Min, 2021). Perhaps the most troubling development is the decreasing institutional trust through active social media usage (Mari et al., 2021). However, social media alone does not appear to be capable of starting a certain belief system, there has to be a hospitable environment beforehand (Enders et al., 2021).
Epistemic (understanding and certainty), existential (control), and social needs are argued as the forces behind believing in conspiracy theories (Douglas et al., 2017, Cherry, 2020). Lower levels of education have also been related to believing in conspiracy theories (Cherry, 2020), which may stem from epistemic needs. A higher level of uncertainty avoidance, feelings of disempowerment or anxiety and vulnerable population segments are ingredients for conspiracy development or acceptance (Mari et al., 2021). Enders et al. (2021) argue that when one sees conspiracy theories in all types of events, the likelihood increases for believing, or even seeking out, dubious ideas online.
Moderating conspiracy theories is argued as a mitigation strategy for social media platforms (Min, 2021). Auto-detection through machine learning is getting more accurate every day and is employed frequently on such platforms to combat the spread of conspiracies and misinformation (Marcellino, 2021). Even though platforms pledge to improve regulation and moderation, their effectiveness is doubted as theories and misinformation continue to dominate (Grimes, 2020). Social media regulation cannot be ignored longer and might require legal obligation as well as public pressure to oblige platforms to effectively combat this very real threat (Grimes, 2020).
Sources:
Cherry, K. (2020, September 19). Why Do People Believe in Conspiracy Theories? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/why-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories-4690335#explanations
Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. (2017). The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 538–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417718261
Enders, A. M., Uscinski, J. E., Seelig, M. I., Klofstad, C. A., Wuchty, S., Funchion, J. R., Murthi, M. N., Premaratne, K., & Stoler, J. (2021). The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation. Political Behavior, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-021-09734-6
Grimes, D. R. (2020). Health disinformation & social media. EMBO Reports, 21(11). https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202051819
Mari, S., Gil De Zúñiga, H., Suerdem, A., Hanke, K., Brown, G., Vilar, R., Boer, D., & Bilewicz, M. (2021). Conspiracy Theories and Institutional Trust: Examining the Role of Uncertainty Avoidance and Active Social Media Use. Political Psychology. Published. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12754
Marcellino, W. (2021). Detecting Conspiracy Theories on Social Media Improving Machine Learning to Detect and Understand Online Conspiracy Theories. RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CA.
Min, S. J. (2021). Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories? Network Diversity, Political Discussion, and Conservative Conspiracy Theories on Social Media. American Politics Research, 1532673X211013526.
Stuttaford, A. (2021, March 2). ‘The Nature of Conspiracy Theories’ Review: The Truth Is Out There. WSJ. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-nature-of-conspiracy-theories-review-the-truth-is-out-there-11614640961
Sunstein, C. R. (2017). #Republic: Divided democracy in the age of social media. Princeton University Press.
