Online communities of conspiracy theorists find in memes a powerful tool to reinforce their beliefs. A recent study sheds ...

A new study finds a sinister side to memes, pointing to their role in strengthening online communities of conspiracy theorists.

Belief in conspiracy theories is very widespread, the product of normal human psychology, and extremely influential and dangerous. About half of Americans believe in one or more of the common ones.

Using data from Reddit, a widely used discussion platform and a hotspot for conspiracy theories, the researchers analysed 544 memes across two interconnected subreddits about Covid-19 between 2020 ...