The coronavirus has mutated. Not only as a virus, but as an idea. Since the first coronavirus infection in the United States, the virus has transformed from a foreign issue to a source of numerous homegrown conspiracy theories.
Joseph Pierre defines a conspiracy theory as "types of beliefs that normal people have, and unlike delusions, aren't considered to be symptoms of mental illness." Conspiracy theories rarely rely on evidence. Instead, they often develop in times of crisis, especially when people are in need of knowledge and safety. The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be one of these times, as people throughout the world find themselves glomming on to any information that they can get.
The introduction of the digital age allows everyone to have all the information they would ever need at their disposal. However, this has led to a rise of non-traditional outlets that people may turn to for information. Even in the last few years, the rise of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook has led to a concerning amount of misinformation.
Since the conception of the coronavirus, there has been one theory after another rapidly spreading across nontraditional platform. This pandemic has served as a conspiracy theory petri dish, spawning many theories, like Bill Gates having created the virus, 5G causing Covid-19, and the infamous Plandemic. In this quarantine, people scroll incessantly, hoping to find some new information or explanation that implicates a broader meaning in the world. Fortunately, some social media platforms have stepped up their role in combatting the spread of misinformation.
As Plandemic and other conspiracy theories spread throughout the United States, the main social media platforms seem to be responding quicker than ever before. From adding labels, warnings, and links to more fact-based articles, these platforms are fighting against misinformation. Twitter has been the most effective in their response. By adding labels and warning messages on tweets that have been deemed to contain misinformation, the company is trying to direct their users to more fact-based information. Facebook and Youtube, on the other hand, find themselves facing criticism as their approach is not the same. Instead, they are relying on third-party fact checkers to decide on what is deemed as misinformation and what is not.
Yoel Roth, head of site integrity for Twitter, tweeted out on May 11 that "These labels will apply to anyone sharing misleading information that meets the requirements of our policy, including world leaders". Though twitter may struggle with consistently implementing this approach, they are truly working hard to limit the access to misinformation.
Like the virus itself, conspiracy theories will continue to mutate. The infection rate for misinformation is much higher than that of Covid-19 and should be treated with equal caution. While social media platforms policing misinformation is a step in the right direction, these platforms should take further steps to unmask the perpetrators of fake news.
Joseph Pierre defines a conspiracy theory as "types of beliefs that normal people have, and unlike delusions, aren't considered to be symptoms of mental illness." Conspiracy theories rarely rely on evidence. Instead, they often develop in times of crisis, especially when people are in need of knowledge and safety. The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be one of these times, as people throughout the world find themselves glomming on to any information that they can get.
The introduction of the digital age allows everyone to have all the information they would ever need at their disposal. However, this has led to a rise of non-traditional outlets that people may turn to for information. Even in the last few years, the rise of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook has led to a concerning amount of misinformation.
Yoel Roth, head of site integrity for Twitter, tweeted out on May 11 that "These labels will apply to anyone sharing misleading information that meets the requirements of our policy, including world leaders". Though twitter may struggle with consistently implementing this approach, they are truly working hard to limit the access to misinformation.
Like the virus itself, conspiracy theories will continue to mutate. The infection rate for misinformation is much higher than that of Covid-19 and should be treated with equal caution. While social media platforms policing misinformation is a step in the right direction, these platforms should take further steps to unmask the perpetrators of fake news.
Really interesting topic! Conspiracy theories aren't really talked about a lot, but are super important. Do you think a distinction could be made between conspiracy theories and fake news? Some of these conspiracy theories are rooted in true facts, the way they connect the facts however, are speculation. Whereas fake news is simply facts and information that isn't correct. Maybe it is more important to educate people on how to tell the difference.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a distinction between the two. I also think that a big problem with correcting conspiracies is that those who believe in them may already be very distrustful of the mainstream media. Any attempt by the media to correct the conspiracy could just deepen people's belief in the theory (i.e. they believe the media is "in on it"). How can we best correct conspiracy theories without inadvertently fueling them?
DeleteThe subject of my first blog post revolved around the idea of misinformation on social media platforms so this was interesting for my to read somewhat similar blog content! I would also agree that there is a difference between misinformation and conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are created based on logical assumptions and matching up various facts to fit together like a puzzle whereas misinformation can be disproven with a simple statistic. As a result, I personally think that it is much harder to correct someone who believes in a conspiracy theory versus misinformation. However, both are disadvantages to the freedom that exists on social media platforms.
DeleteAbsolutely loved this topic! I know of some who view this pandemic and one big conspiracy theory, so I think is it very important to talk about them. One question I have is, do you think people are getting their conspiracy theories from the news, or from what other people are saying? There are definitely some conspiracy theories that are more plausible than others, and the facts they mention are true and others are very far from the truth, but where are they getting this information? Is it fake news like Gemma said? Overall, really interesting take you had on this!
ReplyDeleteI feel like there is some of both happening. I think people might initially form ideas from what the news is saying but then latch on to other people as a way of supporting and spreading what they are saying. I definitely think there are a lot of complex and intertwined conspiracies as well and they aren't necessarily all from one or the same source.
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