Peter Clutton – The Conversation

The term illuminati has been used since the late 15th century, and applied to various groups since then. It’s often discussed by conspiracy theorists, and is heavily referenced in pop-culture. Lettuce./Flickr

November 19, 2019

Don’t (just) blame echo chambers. Conspiracy theorists actively seek out their online communities

Colin Klein, Australian National University; Adam Dunn, Macquarie University, and Peter Clutton, Australian National University

We analysed eight years of Reddit posts from conspiracy theorists. Our findings have helped debunk some common myths about this somewhat alienated group of people.

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) in The X-Files is fond of joining seemingly unrelated dots to create a conspiracy theory – but in reality, the picture is more nuanced.

March 28, 2018

Online conspiracy theorists are more diverse (and ordinary) than most assume

Colin Klein, Australian National University; Peter Clutton, Australian National University, and Vince Polito, Macquarie University

Conspiracy theorists are commonly seen as fundamentally irrational, with an all-encompassing obsession. But new research suggests they may have quite different motivations, beliefs and attitudes.

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