this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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Scientists show how ‘doing your own research’ leads to believing conspiracies — This effect arises because of the quality of information churned out by Google’s search engine (www.vice.com)
submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Scientists show how ‘doing your own research’ leads to believing conspiracies — This effect arises because of the quality of information churned out by Google’s search engine::Researchers found that people searching misinformation online risk falling into “data voids” that increase belief in conspiracies.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've seen this myself - so you could say this article confirms my bias. People who otherwise appear to be reasonable and intelligent - they are falling for what seem obviously untrue. But after doing research, and seeing the same ideas regurgitated in many places, it gives credence to the original idea.

This happens over and over again and I think people exacerbate the problem by then engaging in dialogue with other users, where they argue and become entrenched. Now their ego is tied to this position and changing course based on new information means admitting something they'd rather not . .

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

You are absolutely right about repetition being key in how people are radicalized. It spreads through a social contagion effect, in which one is repeatedly exposed to extremism and this is reinforced by members of the in-group.

You can see the citations for this claim in the beginning of this article I published after doing my own research (hahaha).

I have ads turned off and don't benefit from my blog. Just started it to have information ready to counter misinformation I come across online.