Why narcissists are more likely than others to believe in conspiracy theories
Aug 2022, phys.org
The researchers suggest that paranoia can lead to openness regarding conspiracy theories and that the need to remain in control during times of uncertainty, such as a pandemic, can lead narcissists to seize on outlandish claims to make themselves feel like they are still in control of their lives. And antagonism comes to the fore when others challenge their views regarding conspiracy theories, which only serves to bolster their support of them.
via University of Kent, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Cambridge: Aleksandra Cichocka et al, Why do narcissists find conspiracy theories so appealing?, Current Opinion in Psychology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101386
Conspiracy theories flourish on YouTube, study reports
Oct 2022, phys.org
The study examined 38,564 YouTube comments on 3 COVID-19 news videos on Fox News, Vox, and China Global Television Network, and featuring American business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates, and found conspiracy theories dominated."A major implication of our study is that YouTube needs to redesign the space to provide social moderation infrastructure," said Dr. Gray. "Otherwise, the discursive strategies of conspiracy theorists will continue to evade detection systems, pose insurmountable challenges for content creators, and play into the hands of content producers who benefit from and/or encourage such activity."
Remember that 2.8% of Reddit's 2019 revenue can be traced back to unpaid moderators and other user user contributions that generate profit such as training algorithms, targeting advertising, and recruiting new users. It's called a "data labor subsidy".
Also note this report ignores the engagement engine that extracts value from its users, powered by cheap news and social outrage. These algorithms amplify information and condition behaviors that make money. We're engineering outrage on purpose, and conspiracy theories are just a secondary symptom of an infected network.
via University of Sydney: Lan Ha et al, Where conspiracy theories flourish: A study of YouTube comments and Bill Gates conspiracy theories, Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review (2022). DOI: 10.37016/mr-2020-107
New research shows US Republican politicians increasingly spread news on social media from untrustworthy sources
Oct 2022, phys.org
Under attack:
A study analyzing millions of tweets has revealed that Republican members of the U.S. Congress are increasingly circulating news from dubious sources, compared to their European counterparts. (They used NewsGuard, which assesses the credibility and transparency of news websites against nine journalistic criteria and identifies relevant details about the website's ownership, funding, credibility and transparency practices.)Compared to the period 2016 to 2018, the number of links to untrustworthy websites has doubled over the past two years 2020 to 2022 (from 2.4% to 5.5%; 0.4% for Democrats and around 0.215% for conservative British Tory members).
via Graz University of Technology in Austria and University of Bristol: Social media sharing of low quality news sources by political elites, PNAS Nexus (2022). DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2207.06313
