Lesson 4: Why conspiracy theories work. As complex conspiracy narratives like QAnon gain popularity, we too often dismiss their importance and broad appeal — and misunderstand why they resonate. Rather than evaluate them through the “true or not” perspective, it is important to understand that conspiracy theories have structural, motivational, and permission-granting characteristics that explain how they work so effectively.

We are all prone to believing that disinformation is something that works on someone else, not on us. But the truth is, it works on all of us.

Lesson 3: “News aggregator” accounts and personalities play a role in sculpting information environments and building networks on social media — and sometimes also in promoting disinformation and coercive narratives.

Since the realization that foreign and domestic disinformation played a central role in driving certain narratives during the 2016 elections, many Americans have tried to grapple with what this means, how it affects us and our communities, and what we can do about it.

Since the realization that foreign and domestic disinformation played a central role in driving certain narratives during the 2016 elections, many Americans have tried to grapple with what this means, how it affects us and our communities, and what we can do about it.