Online Conspiracy Theories Start With the Young
Middle school kids love watching videos about supposed celebrity secrets. But does this set them up to be radicalized by more dangerous ideas?
Co-authored with Rory Selinger
Even when you think you know a lot about the online world, it’s still hard to know exactly what kind of guidance to give your kids. You may be worried about screen time, device distraction, oversharing, bullying, and appropriate levels of parental monitoring. But there’s so much more to address.
Recently, the Atlantic ran a shocking article headlined “Instagram Is the Internet’s New Home for Hate,” which revealed a disturbing truth about the platform. While many older users view Instagram as a friendly (or overly friendly) place to share photos, kids have different agendas. They’re probing controversial ideas and experimenting with new identities to figure out who they are. In the process, journalist Taylor Lorenz writes, they’re exposed to “conspiracy theories, viral misinformation, and extremist memes all daisy-chained together via a network of accounts with incredible algorithmic reach and millions of collective followers — many of whom… are very young.”
