Back in 2012, the spread of outlandish conspiracy theories from social media into the mainstream was a relatively new phenomenon, and an indication of what was to come.
Our research found that posts that came from influencers, as well as women without enormous numbers of followers, and that cited scientists or other scholars, received more likes, comments, retweets and hashtags.
Conspiracy theories seem to meet psychological needs and can be almost impossible to eradicate. One remedy: Keep them from taking root in the first place.
Plus: “Subtly inducing people to think about the concept of accuracy decreases their sharing of false and misleading news relative to accurate news,” and the scariest deepfakes of all.
Owen, Laura Hazard. "Who becomes a Reddit conspiracy theorist? They have these things in common." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 22 Nov. 2019. Web. 26 May. 2023.
APA
Owen, L. (2019, Nov. 22). Who becomes a Reddit conspiracy theorist? They have these things in common. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved May 26, 2023, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/who-becomes-a-reddit-conspiracy-theorist-they-have-these-things-in-common/
Chicago
Owen, Laura Hazard. "Who becomes a Reddit conspiracy theorist? They have these things in common." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified November 22, 2019. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/who-becomes-a-reddit-conspiracy-theorist-they-have-these-things-in-common/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/who-becomes-a-reddit-conspiracy-theorist-they-have-these-things-in-common/
| title = Who becomes a Reddit conspiracy theorist? They have these things in common
| last = Owen
| first = Laura Hazard
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 22 November 2019
| accessdate = 26 May 2023
| ref = {{harvid|Owen|2019}}
}}
