The Conspiracies Of Corona
Should we ignore conspiracy theories? Not when it’s so much more revealing to understand how they spread.
Conspiracy theories can tell us a lot about how content spreads virally through social networks, and about the kind of information environment we inhabit.
And there are certainly no shortage of COVID-19 conspiracy theories, whether they’re attributing the pandemic to 5G towers, or identifying lions as the night-time enforcers of Moscow curfews.
Our research team established a simple volume index to better understand conversation patterns and scale of each theory, the assessing each one over five metrics: weekly volume, week-on-week growth rate, velocity, volatility and lifespan.
Together these allow us to ascertain which conspiracies are driving more consistent audience interest, and which ones are heating up or cooling down at any given moment.
Conspiracy theories, like any viral idea, take root among a specific audience: in this case, the two largest audiences are Anti-Deep State Trump Fans and Republican Patriots.
Download our full study below, also detailing some of our recent research around #NewNormal trends.
