Dissemination of disinformation is one of the biggest threats to modern society. Specifically, studies have shown that conspiracy theories endanger civil discourse and undermine trust towards information and social institutions. Researchers have previously focused on analyzing conspiratorial groups from an outsider’s perspective and in relation to echo chambers. Therefore, the purpose of this essay is to offer an alternative perspective that focuses on how an anti 5G group on Facebook creates a group identity — a sense of belonging — and how a strong community influences the members’ opinions regarding 5G. A netnographic approach was used to observe the group and analyze the first two question statements, whilst digital interaction analysis was used to analyze the last question statement. Thereafter, Conspiracist Ideation and Sense of Community were applied as our theoretical framework to examine and understand the material. The results show that the members foster a group identity and a sense of belonging by promoting norms and creating a structure for how one should behave and think in the group. These aspects created an online space where members could receive emotional support and feel safe to express controversial opinions. We could not determine whether the sense of community or group identity affected members’ opinions. We can, however, verify that a strong sense of belonging within the group encouraged discussions about conspiratorial thinking. With this in mind, we suggest that a strong sense of community might have a bigger impact on conspiracy groups and echo chambers than previously thought. Further research should focus on a strong sense of community creating echo chambers, rather than echo chambers creating communities. Key words: anti-5G, conspiracy theories, netnography, community online
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-477134 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Luo, Rongrong, Bredvik, Beatrice |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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