4 ms·

Is it really as big as it is often portrayed?

• ratww 4y ago
  AFAIK the conspiracy theory memes have a far and wide reaching, even internationally, even if the people receiving, translating and forwarding them have no idea where they originated. With that said most young people I know is familiar with what QAnon means, and I'm not even in the US.
  • krapp 4y ago
    Much of the QAnon mythology incorporated conspiracy theories and beliefs that already existed within the right-wing and Evangelical communities. I think it tapped into the populist zeitgeist of Trump's base - which was already deeply conspiratorial - and crystallized all of those inchoate fears into a single narrative, promising vindication, redemption and cleansing. I don't think it can be separated from the greater global right-wing populist shift, or the phenomenon of "post-truth" reality, whereby people tend to live in self-reinforcing bubbles of subjective reality manufactured by news and social media, rejecting the mainstream almost by reflex. I doubt most people who fall into QAnon know what 4chan is or even care. It was a parody that was so on point, the people it was mocking just saw it as a revelation.
    • abathur 4y ago
      It reminds me of the stories about LARPers and edgelords who do something ironically until the meme consumes the host.
      • krapp 4y ago
        Like the rule says, even if you fuck goats ironically, you're still a goatfucker.