to be utterly shocked and heartbroken at how many intelligent, lovely friends and acquaintances have totally bought in to the radical global conspiracy theories...

[fuschia2000]

Seeing so much conspiracy stuff on Facebook threads, its totally alarming.... the folks can really make a good argument, with pseudo science, lots of data etc but we are looking at radical q'anon right wing conspiracy theories breaking through into the normal discussion groups and online groups.....

I will say as well and I know the links are disputed but the only person we know whose like this, and was pre-covid, is a massive pot head. As was my brother, I don’t mean the odd joint. But smoking constantly.

Media bias is a huge issue I think.
Narrative is being spun. You don't need to go too far down a rabbit hole to have totally different conceptions of as any topic really .
Ok, now its covid. And were all stuck at home on the internet instead of getting reality checks by people in real life.

There was an incident in our town that drew a lot of media attention. Unpleasant incident. I was here and knew a lot of the people at the centre of it. The narratives the different media outlets spun was absolutely eye opening.

People have zero faith in official institutions any more and quite frankly it's their own fault.

Nobody knows who to trust - when its something as scientifically complex as covid you dont have the resources to accurately assess competing claims - how can you? You're no viroligist. But you already suspect Outlet X has a specific agenda, so you Google it. And now the algorithms have you and serve it up to you.

Its media spin and narrative that's causing people to go down these rabbit holes. It doesnt start off with Bill Gates is injecting microchips. It starts off with some minor point of difference between two experts that's spun wildly in different outlets and one narrative captures you and down you go into an echo chamber created for you by the algorithms, and it's ever decreasing reinforcing circles after that.

I think YABU because there have always been conspiracy theories and historically a global pandemic is the perfect time for people to seek understandable stories and control. Plus there was a thread about this last night.
I thought the theories were tedious but it turns out threads about them are even more tedious.

www.facebook.com/21641548176/posts/10158025911098177/

@mymadpuppy

ChestnutStuffing All based on the idea "you'll have nothing and be happy" hmm like to see how they'd implement that.

I don't understand what you mean?

I have unfriended someone over Qanon and another one who is an anti-vaxxer unfriended me. I have a dear friend with whom I’ve kept minimal contact these past 4 years as she’s a Trumper. With her, I’m hoping to rekindle our friendship once I can look her in the eye again. It’s horrible and like nothing else so far.

@Lastfreakinglegs
Its a bit concerning isn't it.

@Doublefaced

Just delete them. It’s much better for the soul.

Yeah, this. ^

They're twits.

@mymadpuppy yes but also nothing new!

@Lastfreakinglegs So is my friend from school right? They have such passion for believing The great reset and this is what’s happening? I sometimes have a bit of doubt whispering ‘But what if they’re right’

*mymadpuppy

*ChestnutStuffing All based on the idea "you'll have nothing and be happy" hmm like to see how they'd implement that.

I don't understand what you mean?*

By crashing the global economy perhaps?

[quote EmbarrassingAdmissions]It is like having a family member who has joined a cult. It is not just what she believes but that that is all she ever wants to talk about. We feel like we have lost her and there is no advice anywhere on what to do. It is heart-breaking.

That feels like something that's distinctive and can be seen even on MN. The people with a bee in their bonnet are monomaniacal on particular themes and insert it into unrelated threads/conversations and persist with it whilst displaying no good faith in their engagement with others.

There are several disinformation reporters who have advice on how to talk to affected family members and some of them highlight the role of cult deprogrammers in influencing their thinking. There was a very interesting project recently in which 2 men set-up and interacted with QAnon (or similar) in a FB group and over time interacted with them until people got to the point where they were questioning their own beliefs and 'de-programming' themselves.

hassan-4414.medium.com/the-qanon-media-ecosystem-is-not-helping-people-to-exit-1045e0c8c8ee

www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/08/26/how-to-talk-with-and-maybe-help-someone-who-believes-in-qanon-and-other-conspiracy-theories/?sh=5d3b9fd6412d

www.salon.com/2018/09/16/how-to-pull-a-friend-out-of-the-conspiracy-theory-rabbit-hole/[/quote]
Thanks for these links. I’ve been reading and listening to news stories lately about how we can deprogram mass quantities of the general population after the last few years and decades of right wing radicalization. It’ll be a harrowing job to do for all of us.

@Lastfreakinglegs

*mymadpuppy

*ChestnutStuffing All based on the idea "you'll have nothing and be happy" hmm like to see how they'd implement that.

I don't understand what you mean?*

By crashing the global economy perhaps?

internationalman.com/articles/you-will-own-nothing-and-you-will-be-happy/#:~:text=Klaus%20Schwab%20was%20born%20in%20Nazi%20Germany%20in%201938.

@mymadpuppy chilling.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2019/01/rise-right-wing-globalists

Sign up for TIkTok if you haven’t already.

Facebook is the platform that makes you hate the people you know. TikTok is the platform that makes you love the strangers you will never meet.

There's about 10 of these threads a day

‘Shocked and heartbroken’ get a grip

My relationship of over 5 years ended due to my ex partner being indoctrinated by trump extremists and QAnon supporters, it's been really tough

Really? Most of the people I know who've bought into this stuff have been fairly predictable. Definitely not anyone I'd have considered particularly intelligent to begin with. It's generally the preserve of the not very bright, no?

Mainly I think David Icke is nuts, but occasionally I think, well looking at some of our politicians over the years - Blair being a good example - this whole lizard theory doesn't sound that far fetched after all.

I now know someone who has died directly as a consequence of friends posting conspiracy theories and them being convinced it was no worse than the flu.

They can all fuck off I don't care how good a friend they are/were.

Oh yes, I'm with you there... I have one friend who has gone utterly bonkers with nonsense about the Great Barrington declaration, the Great Reset, the Great ... everything that is untrue, nonsense and obviously totally compelling to her and a lot of her new online mates. She's turned from being a generally interesting person to an obdurate an anti vaxxer (utter stupidity to start with) a brexiter and now being a covid denier, Trump lover, and frankly racist, right wing Libertarian Qanon obsessive. I don't understand it. She's utterly convinced, thoroughly nasty to dissenting friends, ludicrous in her arguments and no matter how much you might try to point out something might be different, she'll never agree... Her views have done a 180 and I veer between hating her and feeling sorry for her.

Social media has done this to us and it's utterly evil...

None of my friends have made comments like that.

Social media has done this to us and it's utterly evil...

Bollocks. What about all the lies and misinformation spouted by the traditional media?