The JFK assassination is one of the most well-known conspiracy theories of the 21st century. The internet ushered in a "post-truth" era with social media allowing for the spread of misinformation.
It is a serious matter if that is actually true.
There is no evidence to suggest that conspiracy theories are getting more popular.
A new series of surveys was conducted in the US and six European countries. According to the new study, conspiracy theories are more common than thought.
There are some good news. It doesn't appear that social media or online news outlets are to blame.
There was no evidence of an increase in beliefs in the modern age when researchers compared national surveys.
"Despite popular claims about America slipping down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole into a state of post-truth, we do not find that conspiracism has increased over time," said political scientist Adam Enders.
We look at beliefs in dozens of specific conspiracy theories, perception of who is likely to be involved in conspiracy theories, and the general tendency to interpret events and circumstances as the product of conspiracy theories.
The first set of surveys compared the opinions of the American public regarding older and newer conspiracy theories.
There was no evidence of increased beliefs in the polls between June of the same year and May of the next year.
The one that says Bill Gates is behind the global epidemic fell out of popularity.
There is a new conspiracy theory called Qanon. 5 percent of people in the US said they believed in Qanon.
Up to 50 percent of Americans believe in the existence of a 'deep state' or elite sex traffickers when researchers ask less specific questions.
The beliefs were relatively constant throughout the global epidemic and the 2020 US election.
While the baseline levels of belief in these theories are troubling, in no instance do we observe evidence of significant over time increases.
There were only seven conspiracy theories that increased in popularity over time in the US.
Even with the internet acting as a megaphone for misinformation, new conspiracy theories are not attracting more believers than they did before.
Polls conducted in the US and Europe in the last two years found no evidence of conspiratorial beliefs increasing.
The new study's determination that the internet is less hospitable to conspiracy theories is supported by these findings.
According to our findings, online conspiracy theories, infodemics, and echo chambers may not be as widespread or influential as people think, and are reflective of studies arguing that people are not engaging with or sharing conspiracy theories online as much as they think.
Increased public awareness of conspiracy theories created an illusion that conspiracy theories are a bigger problem. The popularity of these beliefs did not change over time.
The idea of a post-truth world has to be reexamined. If we don't know where the fake news is coming from and how it convinces people, we won't be able to change their minds.
It's just as baseless as a conspiracy theory if we don't gather evidence to support it.
There was a study published.
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