By March 2021, 46% of Americans agreed with at least some beliefs central to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, which began on online discussion boards when the anonymous \"Q\" posted about American deep state actors involved in a satanic cabal. QAnon's growth raises the question of how virtual in-groups produce varying sociopolitical realities, and how scholars can leverage interdisciplinary tools to better understand conspiracy theory phenomena. This project takes a mixed-methods approach, using discourse analysis and simulation modeling to analyze the in-group dynamics of QAnon believers as they transform primary evidence into their truth, paying particular attention to why QAnon conspiracy theories stick with their believers. Through our discourse analyses, we find that participating in QAnon online spaces empowers individuals to imagine the nation through an apocalyptic, messianic lens. Using the popular Susceptible-Infected-Recovered epidemic model, we simulate the acceptance of a QAnon belief in different online spaces, finding that more conservative spaces tend to reject the belief more slowly, regardless of its initial acceptance by members of the group. We ultimately suggest that qualitative analyses can help produce more effective and nuanced quantitative models of cultural phenomena.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Author-supplied Keywords","value":["Conspiracy theories","Internet culture","Simulation modeling"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 23578