Conspiracy Theories and Flat-Earth Videos on YouTube
Keywords:
Science, conspiracy theories, flat-earth, YouTube, Internet disinformationAbstract
The advent of digital user-created media platforms such as YouTube has made possible the spread of a wide range of information without the constraints of traditional mass media such as editorial gatekeeping. This democratized user-created media environment provides an outlet for subject matter that would otherwise not receive broad exposure–including material that seeks to discredit specific scientific findings and science as a whole. The present paper examines YouTube videos that advocate the idea of a flat earth and tests for conspiratorial ideation using a version of the Conspiratorial Mentality Questionnaire (Bruder, Haffke, Neave, Nouripanah, & Imhoff, 2013). The research finds that flat-earth videos significantly outnumbered debunking videos, were almost twice as long on average and were more likely to include conspiracy ideation, science denial and religious thought and to reference other social media. On the other hand, debunking videos were more likely to reference established science and enjoyed greater favorability ratings from viewers.
References
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Carney, T. F. (1972). Content analysis: A technique for systematic inference from communications. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.
Carpenter, W. (1885). One hundred proofs that the Earth is not a globe. Baltimore: William Carpenter.
Carpentier, N., Dahlgren, P., & Pasquali, F. (2013). Waves of media democratization: A brief history of contemporary participatory practices in the media sphere. Convergence, 19(3), 287-294. doi:10.1177/1354856513486529
Charles, V. E., Polis, C. B., Sridhara, S. K., & Blum, R. W. (2008). Abortion and long-term mental health outcomes: A systematic review of the evidence. Contraception, 78(6), 436-450. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2008.07.005
Cook, J., Ellerton, P., & Kinkead, D. (2018). Deconstructing climate misinformation to identify reasoning errors. Environmental Research Letters, 13(1), 1-7. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aaa49f
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Crisp, W. (2018, April 30). United in the belief that Earth is not a globe; More than 200 flat Earth conspiracy theorists gather to discuss their 'proof ' at first UK convention. Daily Telegraph, p. 12.
Doerksen, C. J. (2005). American Babel: Rogue radio broadcasters of the jazz age. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. (2017). The psychology of conspiracy theories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 538–542. doi:10.1177/0963721417718261
Elsasser, S. W., & Dunlap, R. E. (2013). Leading voices in the denier choir: Conservative columnists’ dismissal of global warming and denigration of climate science. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(6), 754–776. doi:10.1177/0002764212469800
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Garwood, C. (2007). Flat earth: The history of an infamous idea. New York: Thomas Dunne Press.
Gauchat, G. (2012). Politicization of science in the public sphere: A study of public trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010. American Sociological Review, 77(2), 167-187. doi:10.1177/0003122412438225
Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in conspiracy theories. Political Psychology, 15(4), 731-742. doi:10.2307/3791630
Hampden, J. (1871). Is the world flat or round?: being a correspondence between John Hampden, Esq., of Chippenham, Wilts., and Captain George Peacock, F. R. G. S., of Starcross, Devon. 2. Gloucester: John Bellows.
Hofstadter, R. (1970). Anti-intellectualism in American life. New York: Random House.
Jacques, P. I. (2006). The rearguard of modernity: Environmental skepticism as a struggle of citizenship. Global Environmental Politics, 6(1), 76-101. doi:10.1162/glep.2006.6.1.76
Jam Bos. (2018, January 23). Flat earth physics: Episode 1.0 - planes flying on a spinning ball. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDyaRBGpcbM&lc=UgyHo1FHLWZyNqZhvod4AaABAg
Jelly Bean. (2018, July 15). The flat earth awakening on Barcroft TV | Nathan Thompson & ODD TV. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ_BMn4vUkU&lc=UgzFK9WaY4Ufbs2FczN4AaABAg
Jletsaistu. (2018, November 16). The Great Deception. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVEslKy3-RQ&lc=UgwigoOng9pJkZ8HrEh4AaABAg
Johansen, M. S., & Joslyn, M. R. (2008). Political Persuasion During Times of Crisis: The Effects of Education and News Media on Citizens' Factual Information about Iraq. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(3), 591-608.
Kelly, D. (2018, January 15). The Earth is round, and other myths, debunked by the flat Earth movement (you read that right). Los Angeles Times, p. A6.
Knight, P. (2000). Conspiracy culture: From Kennedy to the X-fies. London: Routledge.
Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Kuhn, T. S. (1957). The Copernican revolution: Planetary astronomy in the development of Western thought. Cambridge, Massachusets: Harvard University Press.
Lewandowsky, S., Gignac, G. E., & Oberauer, K. (2013, October). The role of conspiracist ideation and worldviews in predicting rejection of science. PLOS One, 8(10), 1-11.
Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers in group dynamics II: channels of group life; social planning and action research. Human Relations, 1(2), 143-153.
Lilio, Z. (1496). De origine et laudibus scientiarum. Add: contra antipodes. Florence, Italy: Francesco Buonaccorsi.
Martin, D. (2001, March 25). Charles Johnson, 76, proponent of flat earth: An iconoclast who trusted his eyes and the bible. New York Times, p. 44. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A72285356/GIC?u=psucic&sid=GIC&xid=40a70aec
Meldrum, S., Savarimuthu, B. T., Licorish, S., Tahir, A., Bosu, M., & Jayakaran, P. (2017). Is knee pain information on YouTube videos perceived to be helpful? an analysis of user comments and implications for dissemination on social media. Digital Health, 3(1), 1-18. doi:10.1177/2055207617698908
Metzger, M. J., & Flanagin, A. J. (2013). Credibility and trust of information in online environments: The use of cognitive heuristics. Journal of Pragmatics Volume 59, Part B, December 2013, Pages 210-220, 59(1), 210-220. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2013.07.012
Misra, S., & Stokols, D. (2012). Psychological and health outcomes of perceived information overload. Environment and Behavior, 44(6), 737–759. doi:10.1177/0013916511404408
Mohammed, S. N., & Thombre, A. (2017). An investigation of user comments on Facebook pages of Trinidad and Tobago’s Indian music format radio stations. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 24(1), 111-129. doi:10.1080/19376529.2016.1252374
Mooney, C. (2005). The Republican war on science. New York: Basic Books.
Narayan, B., & Preljevic, M. (2017). An information behaviour approach to conspiracy theories: Listening in on voices from within the vaccination debate. Information Research-an International Electronic Journal, 22(1). Retrieved from http://InformationR.net/ir/22-1/colis/colis1616.html
Pobiner, B. (2016). Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities. American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 159(1), 232-274. doi:10.1002/ajpa.22910
Post-Gazette and Sun-Telegraph. (1960, June 6). British flat earth society secretary "solves" mystery: Missing people are out of this world. Post-Gazette and Sun-Telegraph, p. 5.
Sarcastro sarcastro_. (2018, November 15). The grand deception NASA, a flat earth perspective. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVEslKy3-RQ&lc=UgzaMye6Nj8smLi14qx4AaABAg
Shin, J., Jian, L., Driscoll, K., & Bar, F. (2018). The diffusion of misinformation on social media: Temporal pattern, message, and source. Computers in Human Behavior, 83(1), 278-287. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.008
Shoemaker, P. J., & Voss, T. (2009). Gatekeeping Theory. London: Routledge.
Slosson, E. E. (1924). Science teaching in a democracy. NASSP Bulletin, 138-147. doi:10.1177/019263652400800123
Smallman, S. (2018). Conspiracy theories and the zika epidemic. Journal of International and Global Studies, 9(2), 1-13.
Smithson, M. (1993). Ignorance and Science: Dilemmas, Perspectives, and Prospects. Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization, 15(2), 133-156.
Sweetpea. (2018, October 1). Flat earther testimony (Steve Matthews). Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BCEcmXl96I&lc=UgxI2Px5e2dc6v8sLPV4AaABAg
The Amaroc News. (1922, April 9). Chris Columbus was all wrong - says Zion head. The Amaroc News, p. 4.
The Coconino Sun. (1921, October 7). No Title. The Coconino Sun, p. 4.
The Evening World. (1921, September 29). No law of gravity! Voliva proves it with a brickbat. The Evening World, p. 2. Retrieved from http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1921-09-29/ed-1/seq-2/
Washburn, A. N., & Skitka, L. J. (2018). Science denial across the political divide: Liberals and conservatives are similarly motivated to deny attitude-inconsistent science. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9(8), 972-980. doi:10.1177/1948550617731500
Wood, M. J. (2017). Conspiracy suspicions as a proxy for beliefs inconspiracy theories: Implications for theory and measurement. British Journal of Psychology, 108(1), 507–527. doi:10.1111/bjop.12231
Wood, M. J., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2012). Dead and alive: Beliefs in contradictoryconspiracy theories. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(1), 767–773. doi:10.1177/1948550611434786
World Economic Forum. (2014). Outlook on the global agenda. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Retrieved August 22, 2018, from http://reports.weforum.org/outlook-14/top-ten-trends-category-page/10-the-rapid-spread-of-misinformation-online/
Alexa.com. (2017, November 8). The top 500 sites on the web. Retrieved November 8, 2017, from Alexa.com: An Amazon.com company: https://www.alexa.com/topsites
American Physical Society. (2006). This month in physics history June, ca. 240 B.C.: Eratosthenes measures the earth. APS News, 15(6). Retrieved from https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200606/history.cfm
Banerjee, S. (2018). Analysis of user-generated comments posted during live matches of the cricket world cup 2015. Online Information Review, 42(7), 1180-1194. doi:10.1108/OIR-01-2017-0015
Brown, P. G. (2008). Choosing Ignorance within a Learning Universe. In B. Vitek, & W. Jackson (Eds.), The Virtues of Ignorance: Complexity, Sustainability, and the Limits of Knowledge (pp. 165-188). Lexington, Kentucky, USA: The University Press of Kentucky.
Broxton, T., Interian, Y., Vaver, J., & Wattenhofer, M. (2013). Catching a viral video. Journal of Intelligent Information Systems, 40(1), 241-259. doi:10.1007/s10844-011-0191-2
Bruder, M., Haffke, P., Neave, N., Nouripanah, N., & Imhoff, R. (2013). Measuring individual differences in generic beliefs in conspiracy theories across cultures: Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 4(1). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00225
Carney, T. F. (1972). Content analysis: A technique for systematic inference from communications. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.
Carpenter, W. (1885). One hundred proofs that the Earth is not a globe. Baltimore: William Carpenter.
Carpentier, N., Dahlgren, P., & Pasquali, F. (2013). Waves of media democratization: A brief history of contemporary participatory practices in the media sphere. Convergence, 19(3), 287-294. doi:10.1177/1354856513486529
Charles, V. E., Polis, C. B., Sridhara, S. K., & Blum, R. W. (2008). Abortion and long-term mental health outcomes: A systematic review of the evidence. Contraception, 78(6), 436-450. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2008.07.005
Cook, J., Ellerton, P., & Kinkead, D. (2018). Deconstructing climate misinformation to identify reasoning errors. Environmental Research Letters, 13(1), 1-7. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aaa49f
Copernicus, N. ([1543] 1976). On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres. (A. Duncan, Trans.) New York: Barnes and Noble.
Crisp, W. (2018, April 30). United in the belief that Earth is not a globe; More than 200 flat Earth conspiracy theorists gather to discuss their 'proof ' at first UK convention. Daily Telegraph, p. 12.
Doerksen, C. J. (2005). American Babel: Rogue radio broadcasters of the jazz age. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. (2017). The psychology of conspiracy theories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 538–542. doi:10.1177/0963721417718261
Elsasser, S. W., & Dunlap, R. E. (2013). Leading voices in the denier choir: Conservative columnists’ dismissal of global warming and denigration of climate science. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(6), 754–776. doi:10.1177/0002764212469800
Everhart, D., & Hameed, S. (2013). Muslims and evolution: a study of Pakistani physicians in the United States. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 6(2). doi:10.1186/1936-6434-6-2
Eysenbach, G. (2008). Credibility of health information and digital media: new perspective and implications for youth. In M. J. Metzger, & A. J. Flanagin (Eds.), Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (pp. 123-154). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Fuchs, C. (2011). Foundation of critical media and information studies. Abington, MA: Routledge.
Garwood, C. (2001). Alfred Russel Wallace and the flat earth controversy. Endeavour, 25(4), 139-143. doi:10.1016/S0160-9327(00)01386-7
Garwood, C. (2007). Flat earth: The history of an infamous idea. New York: Thomas Dunne Press.
Gauchat, G. (2012). Politicization of science in the public sphere: A study of public trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010. American Sociological Review, 77(2), 167-187. doi:10.1177/0003122412438225
Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in conspiracy theories. Political Psychology, 15(4), 731-742. doi:10.2307/3791630
Hampden, J. (1871). Is the world flat or round?: being a correspondence between John Hampden, Esq., of Chippenham, Wilts., and Captain George Peacock, F. R. G. S., of Starcross, Devon. 2. Gloucester: John Bellows.
Hofstadter, R. (1970). Anti-intellectualism in American life. New York: Random House.
Jacques, P. I. (2006). The rearguard of modernity: Environmental skepticism as a struggle of citizenship. Global Environmental Politics, 6(1), 76-101. doi:10.1162/glep.2006.6.1.76
Jam Bos. (2018, January 23). Flat earth physics: Episode 1.0 - planes flying on a spinning ball. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDyaRBGpcbM&lc=UgyHo1FHLWZyNqZhvod4AaABAg
Jelly Bean. (2018, July 15). The flat earth awakening on Barcroft TV | Nathan Thompson & ODD TV. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ_BMn4vUkU&lc=UgzFK9WaY4Ufbs2FczN4AaABAg
Jletsaistu. (2018, November 16). The Great Deception. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVEslKy3-RQ&lc=UgwigoOng9pJkZ8HrEh4AaABAg
Johansen, M. S., & Joslyn, M. R. (2008). Political Persuasion During Times of Crisis: The Effects of Education and News Media on Citizens' Factual Information about Iraq. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(3), 591-608.
Kelly, D. (2018, January 15). The Earth is round, and other myths, debunked by the flat Earth movement (you read that right). Los Angeles Times, p. A6.
Knight, P. (2000). Conspiracy culture: From Kennedy to the X-fies. London: Routledge.
Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Kuhn, T. S. (1957). The Copernican revolution: Planetary astronomy in the development of Western thought. Cambridge, Massachusets: Harvard University Press.
Lewandowsky, S., Gignac, G. E., & Oberauer, K. (2013, October). The role of conspiracist ideation and worldviews in predicting rejection of science. PLOS One, 8(10), 1-11.
Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers in group dynamics II: channels of group life; social planning and action research. Human Relations, 1(2), 143-153.
Lilio, Z. (1496). De origine et laudibus scientiarum. Add: contra antipodes. Florence, Italy: Francesco Buonaccorsi.
Martin, D. (2001, March 25). Charles Johnson, 76, proponent of flat earth: An iconoclast who trusted his eyes and the bible. New York Times, p. 44. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A72285356/GIC?u=psucic&sid=GIC&xid=40a70aec
Meldrum, S., Savarimuthu, B. T., Licorish, S., Tahir, A., Bosu, M., & Jayakaran, P. (2017). Is knee pain information on YouTube videos perceived to be helpful? an analysis of user comments and implications for dissemination on social media. Digital Health, 3(1), 1-18. doi:10.1177/2055207617698908
Metzger, M. J., & Flanagin, A. J. (2013). Credibility and trust of information in online environments: The use of cognitive heuristics. Journal of Pragmatics Volume 59, Part B, December 2013, Pages 210-220, 59(1), 210-220. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2013.07.012
Misra, S., & Stokols, D. (2012). Psychological and health outcomes of perceived information overload. Environment and Behavior, 44(6), 737–759. doi:10.1177/0013916511404408
Mohammed, S. N., & Thombre, A. (2017). An investigation of user comments on Facebook pages of Trinidad and Tobago’s Indian music format radio stations. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 24(1), 111-129. doi:10.1080/19376529.2016.1252374
Mooney, C. (2005). The Republican war on science. New York: Basic Books.
Narayan, B., & Preljevic, M. (2017). An information behaviour approach to conspiracy theories: Listening in on voices from within the vaccination debate. Information Research-an International Electronic Journal, 22(1). Retrieved from http://InformationR.net/ir/22-1/colis/colis1616.html
Pobiner, B. (2016). Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities. American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 159(1), 232-274. doi:10.1002/ajpa.22910
Post-Gazette and Sun-Telegraph. (1960, June 6). British flat earth society secretary "solves" mystery: Missing people are out of this world. Post-Gazette and Sun-Telegraph, p. 5.
Sarcastro sarcastro_. (2018, November 15). The grand deception NASA, a flat earth perspective. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVEslKy3-RQ&lc=UgzaMye6Nj8smLi14qx4AaABAg
Shin, J., Jian, L., Driscoll, K., & Bar, F. (2018). The diffusion of misinformation on social media: Temporal pattern, message, and source. Computers in Human Behavior, 83(1), 278-287. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.008
Shoemaker, P. J., & Voss, T. (2009). Gatekeeping Theory. London: Routledge.
Slosson, E. E. (1924). Science teaching in a democracy. NASSP Bulletin, 138-147. doi:10.1177/019263652400800123
Smallman, S. (2018). Conspiracy theories and the zika epidemic. Journal of International and Global Studies, 9(2), 1-13.
Smithson, M. (1993). Ignorance and Science: Dilemmas, Perspectives, and Prospects. Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization, 15(2), 133-156.
Sweetpea. (2018, October 1). Flat earther testimony (Steve Matthews). Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BCEcmXl96I&lc=UgxI2Px5e2dc6v8sLPV4AaABAg
The Amaroc News. (1922, April 9). Chris Columbus was all wrong - says Zion head. The Amaroc News, p. 4.
The Coconino Sun. (1921, October 7). No Title. The Coconino Sun, p. 4.
The Evening World. (1921, September 29). No law of gravity! Voliva proves it with a brickbat. The Evening World, p. 2. Retrieved from http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1921-09-29/ed-1/seq-2/
Washburn, A. N., & Skitka, L. J. (2018). Science denial across the political divide: Liberals and conservatives are similarly motivated to deny attitude-inconsistent science. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9(8), 972-980. doi:10.1177/1948550617731500
Wood, M. J. (2017). Conspiracy suspicions as a proxy for beliefs inconspiracy theories: Implications for theory and measurement. British Journal of Psychology, 108(1), 507–527. doi:10.1111/bjop.12231
Wood, M. J., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2012). Dead and alive: Beliefs in contradictoryconspiracy theories. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(1), 767–773. doi:10.1177/1948550611434786
World Economic Forum. (2014). Outlook on the global agenda. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Retrieved August 22, 2018, from http://reports.weforum.org/outlook-14/top-ten-trends-category-page/10-the-rapid-spread-of-misinformation-online/
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