this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
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Why trolls, extremists, and others spread conspiracy theories they don’t believe (arstechnica.com)
submitted 11 months ago by ptz@dubvee.org to c/science@lemmy.world
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Some just want to promote conflict, cause chaos, or even just get attention.

There has been a lot of research on the types of people who believe conspiracy theories, and their reasons for doing so. But there’s a wrinkle: My colleagues and I have found that there are a number of people sharing conspiracies online who don’t believe their own content.

They are opportunists. These people share conspiracy theories to promote conflict, cause chaos, recruit and radicalize potential followers, make money, harass, or even just to get attention.

There are several types of this sort of conspiracy-spreader trying to influence you.

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[–] match@pawb.social 5 points 11 months ago

like me saying that Hasbro hired pinkertons to threaten the commander rules committee into handing over control of the format