By: Rana Nejad

Edited By: Edu Kenedi

There are few instances in my life where I have been in an environment surrounded by people that are one-hundred percent sure that they are right. One of these places is my parents’ home—the culprit being my mother. The other? Deep inside conspiracy groups on Facebook. 

Over the past few weeks, I have been a member of over 15 different Facebook groups using an alias for anonymity. The group names, ranging from “memes for anti-vaxxers” to “conspiracy, truth, and end times”, to “Libocrites™ Exposed”, cover a broad array of topics and include a relatively diverse membership in terms of race, age, and gender. This being said, I have noticed that the most active participants—namely, those that post and comment most frequently in these forums—appear to be mostly white, male, and almost always American.

Among these white, male, American members there also seems to be a significant majority who are affiliated with the military in one form or another.  These individuals tend to be more active in the far right and politically focused groups than the groups that claim the earth is flat or that there are aliens walking among us.

This trend changes when looking at anti-vaccination groups, whose most active members were women between 20-50 years old. Within this prominent majority, many seemed to be mothers or soon-to-be mothers. Indeed, I’ve observed a clear divide within the anti-vax community between those with children and those without.

Take, for instance, a separate group I’m part of called “Safe Space For Anti Vaccines Moms And Dads.” It boasts 5,600 members, predominantly featuring posts authored by women seeking advice pertaining to their children. The group’s language is calm, seemingly reflecting genuine concern among moms about their children’s health and safety.

In all of the anti-vaccination groups, the members have agreed on a creative code-word to use instead of the word “vaccine” out of fear of censorship by the social media platform or some other authority. The most common codeword seemed to be “cupcake”, which confused me and a lot of new members. For some strange reason though, it felt good knowing what cupcake, or any other code word was referring to and not having to ask. It was an “inside thing” and only those who were part of the community could understand it. This sense of inclusiveness felt rewarding, and even though I do not agree with anything that is being posted on these pages, I would be lying if I didn’t say that, in some ways, these groups felt like familiar communities to me. 

Stylistically, members of these groups are BIG fans of caps lock and liberally sprinkling exclamation points at the end of each sentence!!! (This may have rubbed off on me). Not only does this draw attention to what these posts are saying, but it invokes a very stark emotional—sometimes stressful—response. Personally, when I encounter a post with five exclamation points in the opening line and a headline like “THE GOVERNMENT IS HIDING THE TRUTH FROM YOU,” I can’t help but feel a mix of panic and intrigue simultaneously.

Drawing from what I know about marketing, social media, and influencers, this use of attention-grabbing texts within posts is a classic way of capturing your audience and getting them to engage with your content. Aggressive and “street” language also seemed to be a common trend in these groups. Profanity was prevalent, often accompanied by overtly racist content, which was disturbingly common within the far-right forums I observed. In one such group, an American male posts:

“ Looks like the first 10,000 “refugees” will be arriving in the U.S. from Syria. They will be given modern housing with utilities and free food. They will know a life they could have never dreamed of in their homeland. Last night 33,000 American veterans slept on the streets, and some of them died. If you think this is BS and needs to be reversed, LIKE & SHARE THIS!!!!”.

In the comment section, another member replies:

“The time is close to where the civilized Americans are going to say f*** this s***t and take our country back.”

These posts are often accompanied by fan art or AI-generated patriotic images, one of which I have included below:

Photo retrieved from group: “Trump Is My President Let It Piss Off The Libtards”

Comments to this particular photo include the usual remarks: “that’s my president!” and “Trump 2024”. However, what caught my attention was when one user pointed out that Joe Biden had served his country whereas Donald Trump had not. This user received three distinct replies from different individuals, all directly attacking his affiliation with the group and questioning his loyalty to America. All for making a factually correct claim.

Having delved into the heart of these digital communities, my initial observations suggest that while humans can display unwavering ignorance, they are also complex beings who flourish in environments where they feel acknowledged and understood.