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    Warum Trolle, Extremisten und andere Verschwörungstheorien verbreiten, an die sie nicht glauben


    Warum Trolle, Extremisten und andere Verschwörungstheorien verbreiten, an die sie nicht glauben

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/10/why-trolls-extremists-and-others-spread-conspiracy-theories-they-dont-believe/

    View 29 Comments

    29 Comments

    2. compuwiza1 on

      Most conspiracy theories are invented to smear someone. Peel back the layers on a lot of them and you will find anti-semitism.

    3. CoverTheSea on

      Miserable people and or are getting paid and most likely very poor.

    5. rnilf on

      > Aron McKillips, a Boogaloo member arrested in 2022 as part of an FBI sting, is another example of an opportunistic conspiracist. In his own words: “I don’t believe in anything. I’m only here for the violence.”

      They’re so transparent about their intentions, the idiots who actually believe in the conspiracies these assholes spout must be the worst combination of:

      – Stupid

      – Easy to manipulate

      – Unwilling to admit when they’re wrong

    8. SvenHudson on

      Because people are shaped by their environments: we do what it is easy to do and we avoid doing what it is hard to do.

      These conspiracy theories are spreading on ad-supported platforms like TV and radio and social media, all things that directly make more money when more people pay attention to them. The more provocative something is, the more attention it gets, the more money it makes the platform’s owners. So those platforms are designed to encourage things that rile people up and discourage things that calm people down.

      You can look into the individuals’ motives all you want but the truth is most of these dishonest conspiracy theorists would stop trying to do it if it stopped being so easy to succeed at.

    11. justanaccountimade1 on

      >There are no such things as real facts or even evidence. But what did matter was how you signaled your political affiliation by making a conspiratorial statement.

      >Yep. This is exactly how a conspiracy theory, a big lie, functions in an autocratic political system. **It helps the leader, the autocrat, establish who’s loyal, who’s on our side, and who’s not.**

      >If you promise to believe in the made up story, then you can work for the government or the party or whatever. If you don’t, you’re out. So this then and not merit or hard work determines who gets promoted and who runs things.

      From Autocracy in America: Start With a Lie, 6 Sep 2024 https://podcasts.apple.com

    12. dormidormit on

      The description given by FlatEarth.com, a group dedicated to *debunking* Flat Earth theorists, put it best: It is not about truth, it is about control. Flat Earthers may or may not actually believe flat earth us valid, validity doesn’t matter. It’s about the denial of facts, the rejection of truth, and rejecting the authority of whoever proved the truth. By doing that, they can reject objective reality to substitute their own. Which is the goal.

    13. Bob_Spud on

      Missing one important category: **Corporate Profiteering.**

      Many media companies use their own conspiracy theories and the conspiracy theories of others to make money. In the case of News Corp it cost them $787 million for their Fox News Dominion Voting System conspiracy theory.

    16. FiendishHawk on

      For people who believe this is just the right-wing, try asking the internet if Donald Trump was really nearly shot at a rally or if it was staged.

      We are all vulnerable to conspiracy.

    17. RepresentativeBag909 on

      Those are all subjective terms. They can mean anything to anyone depending on perspective.

    18. TylerFortier_Photo on

      >Some just want to promote conflict, cause chaos, or even just get attention.

      Back when I was an internet troll as teenager, this is exactly why I would troll. I could’ve cared less what I was saying was true, just cared about reactions

    20. HueyWasRight1 on

      It doesn’t take any skill or ability to destroy. Being a critic is easier than actually doing something productive.

    21. jmnugent on

      I feel like this article leaves out one of the more important aspects of this.

      It’s the ol’ Steve Bannon strategy of “create a lot of noise in the room” (or “kick up a lot of dust”).

      Create a distraction or a big cloud of confusion ,. or just make it hard to actually discern the factual information.

      Confused and misinformed people are more vulnerable and easier to manipulate.

    22. SlurpMyPoopSoup on

      Hi, I’m a troll and it’s because spreading misinformation is fuckin’ funny.

      But the trick isn’t to *just* spread misinformation, it’s to do it in a way that is **totally** believable.

    25. UnrequitedRespect on

      “For the lulz” should be #1 answer.

      Trolls are actually just bored and sad people that laugh at the messes they cause

    29. FancifulLaserbeam on

      Because it’s funny.

      I 100% believe that “flat Earth” began as a joke, but some really special morons actually believed it.

      My brother has an employee who is actually *brilliant.* He is constantly engineering new equipment to solve issues at work, but refuses to patent anything, because knowledge should be free… unlike what the government does to quash the truth of the flat Earth.

      My brother sends me photos that say, “Hey, look at what Flat Earth Randy invented. This saved us huge amounts of time today.”

      I sometimes want to patent it out from under him… and then assign him the goddamn patent!

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