The Perfect Storm: Poor Leadership, Social Media, and the Pandemic

The rise of interest in and belief in conspiracy theories—QAnon perhaps being the most explicit and visible in our culture today—reflects an intersection of a number of complex social and psychological influences.

Firstly, a president and administration that refuses to disavow misinformation—and blatantly promotes it. Additionally, we have a fractured media environment that enables consumers to curate their exposure, particularly with the rise of social media. Lastly, there persists a global pandemic that is heightening everyone’s sensitivities and disrupting all of our day to day lives. It is normal under the stress of the present circumstances to want answers—however, this truth-seeking can lead consumers dangerously astray.

Despite the fact that the FBI recently identified QAnon as a potential domestic terrorist threat, the president refuses to disavow the group or directly discredit the outrageous and baseless claims that they make. Such failure in leadership is particularly troubling given that research finds that leaders play critical roles in fostering mutual radicalization within a culture (Moghaddam, 2020). Mutual radicalization is when groups drive one another to extremes, and is marked by nations becoming more polarized. Leaders that sow such divisions and characterize their detractors as the “enemy” facilitate a shift within the culture to such mutual radicalization—an apt description of the political discourse under the present administration. Moreover, such radicalization defies rationality—which is also a critical aspect of buying into conspiracy theories.

Enter social media. In the present media landscape, it is virtually impossible to separate entertainment from information, as social media has become the media diet of choice for many consumers of news. In fact, most Americans are severely lacking in media literacy, unable to distinguish legitimate websites or news from fake or manufactured ones. Thus, the standard for whether or not a consumer believes what they are exposed to in their media diet is oftentimes based on whether or not they agree with the content—a serious subversion of journalistic standards and quality. To use Facebook as an example—perhaps the largest social media platform in facilitating the spread of misinformation and fake news—researchers have identified that, “Rather than finding accurate news meaningful, Facebook users find the affective pleasure of connectivity addictive, whether or not the information they share is factual, and that is how communicative capitalism captivates subjects as it holds them captive” (Johnson, 2018, p. 11).

Add the social and personal upheaval that virtually everyone is experiencing right now because of this global pandemic, and even more people become vulnerable to the lure of what used to be far-right and fringe movements as they scour the internet in search of answers to the questions they have. Moreover, many Americans are spending more time online in the midst of this pandemic, leaving consumers susceptible to radicalization.

Leaders who want to maintain power at any cost oftentimes have a vested interest in further fomenting such polarization online, as evidenced by their preference for the normalization of inter-group conflict as a way to maintain power. These leaders, referred to by researchers as strongmen, “are antidemocratic, narcissistic, and power-hungry” (Moghaddam, 2020, p. 2). They purposely incite division within the culture as a means to maintain their positions of power, using whatever resources are at their disposal—which in this century includes the power of social media to further foment division and political polarization.

Social scientists are only beginning to scratch the surface with their research regarding the role that social media has played in enabling a more radicalized populace, particularly in the context of the growing adherence to conspiracy theories among Trump supporters. QAnon posts are now dominating the daily “Top 10” on Facebook, and their ranks are reportedly growing both on and offline. This week, the New York Times has dedicated a number of stories to trying to unravel the appeal of this conspiracy theory as well as examining the reasons behind its apparent global spread. For instance, this week there was a front-page article about QAnon’s global appeal that focused on the rise in popularity of this group in Germany, which is particularly troubling given that their leadership is in stark contrast to ours here in America. Other articles have investigated why Republicans in our country have been embracing this movement, as the newspaper has started to track the spread of support for QAnon across our nation.

It is a fallacy to dismiss the adherents of conspiracy theories as merely individually disturbed or mentally ill—such a characterization fails to take into account the perfect storm of social and psychological influences right now that makes such conspiracies more appealing to the masses. It also further stigmatizes those with mental illness by depicting them with irrationality or as inherently dangerous.

In this unprecedented time of social and cultural rupture, people are searching for answers. Without competent leadership and in an environment where trust in once-foundational institutions such as health, medicine, media and politics is waning, those pursuing “truth” may find themselves on a subversive path, straying farther and farther away from where they started from or what they seek.

To learn more about the rise of QAnon, check out the QAnon Anonymous Podcast.

Copyright Azadeh Aalai 2020.