Is it just me, or are conspiracy theories trending right now?

I'm using instagram to browse the discover feed mindlessly sometimes. I know, it's stupid, but I'm bored.

At some point a short video about conspiracy showed up, so I hang in there and watched it.

After mindlessly scrolling through the feed, more and more conspiracy stuff started showing up.

Also, a few days before, the coridor crew on YT uploaded a vlog how they made a fake video go viral.

And then there's the fuzz about the whistleblower, etc... resulting in many other YT videos referencing aliens, etc.

FWIW, I'm not actively searching for conspiracy topics, etc... it's just that I've noticed a trend rising up, and I can't be the only one, can I ?!

🛸👽

new_guy,

Probably. Conspiracy theory can be a great source of content to create when the platforms heavily prioritize screen time.

They’re easily digestible, intriguing, and one can be the seed to begin a spiral of the same content, created by the same author.

BettyWhiteInHD,
@BettyWhiteInHD@lemmy.world avatar

And you can make a career out of lying to your dipshit audience for over 20 years while selling sketchy supplements, gold coins and silver and make survivors and relatives of children and teachers murdered in a mass school shooting a fucking nightmare.

Shout out to Knowledge Fight.

unimalion,

I have also noticed that there been more conspiracy videos, but for me it’s all been ufo related.

anolemmi,
@anolemmi@lemmi.social avatar

UFO videos - So hot right now!

PineapplePartisan,
@PineapplePartisan@lemmy.world avatar

You watched the video and scrolled the feed so the algo gave you more of it. Simple as that.

adonis,
@adonis@kbin.social avatar

Sure, the algo suggested some of these videos multiple times, before I even watched one of them fully.

Signtist,
@Signtist@lemmy.world avatar

People who watch conspiracy videos tend to watch a lot of conspiracy videos, which the algorithm likes. So if your watch history suggests you might watch a conspiracy video, it’ll suggest them to you so that you’ll hopefully get pulled in and watch a bunch of videos.

JustAManOnAToilet,

Would that not mean that they’re trending though?

Signtist,
@Signtist@lemmy.world avatar

They’re trending heavily in their community, but nowhere else. It’s like how a bunch of audiophiles will probably watch a review of some super-expensive set of headphones, but nobody else will be interested at all.

Slacking,

To add to the other reply, you also don’t need to watch a full video, they register slight pauses as you scroll. They also build a profile using all their platforms and multiple types of data.

anolemmi,
@anolemmi@lemmi.social avatar

Yup. The sad truth is there’s no shortage of videos out there just waiting for you to engage, they will feed you literally anything at all as long as it gives them a click and some advertising money. It’s the scariest part about social media and the algorithms, because many many people are not even conscious enough to question what they’re being fed, and will just mindlessly soak it all up and take it as fact.

On the one hand yea it’s out of control and is partially to blame for the dumbing down of society, on the other hand it’s just the evolution of tabloids. People have always been bored and gullible.

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