QAnon: Into the Rabbit Hole A Deep Dive Into a “Conspiracy” in Times of Turmoil A MASTER THESIS BY: Kristinna Larsen & Rósa Tindskard Culture, Communication and Globalization Aalborg University Supervisor: Robert Christian Thomsen Abstract The phenomenon of ‘QAnon’ took the world by storm after the insurrection on the United States Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, and as a topic of discussion, it was almost inescapable on the news. Everyone was curious and concerned as to what QAnon was, who ‘Q’ was, and why people were drawn to QAnon. The sensationalism surrounding QAnon stems from years of looming on social media, growing in size and popularity to the point of reaching previous president Donald Trump’s attention. The identity of the ‘Q’ persona is still a mystery at this time of writing; however, QAnon is not made up of one person, but describes a community of adherents believing in various conspiracy theories which targets many different areas and people. For centuries, conspiracy theories have been part of society, yet with QAnon it is difficult to pin down its conspiratorial features compared to what is known as classic conspiracy theories. We see public support of the conspiracy theory by political figures, voicing pro-QAnon rhetoric, disregarding the conspiracy theory’s very anti-democrat and anti-establishment beliefs. This body of work seeks to explore the world of QAnon. Our problem formulation for this thesis will be answered by analysing from three different perspectives. Firstly, we examine which theoretical categories QAnon can be described as, and attempt to describe its conspiratorial element; an area which concludes that QAnon shares many similarities with Rosenblum and Muirhead’s theory of new conspiracism, social movements, religious doctrines as well as our own construction: ‘conspiracy narrative’. Secondly, we look into the relationship between QAnon and social media; a relationship leading us to conclude that QAnon and social media are deeply intertwined with each other, where QAnon’s emergence from the beginning to its popularity today can be attributed primarily to social media, and internet based concepts such as echo chambers, filter bubbles and hashtag hijackings. Lastly, we examine the role of social and political polarisation, and discuss what it means to have a conspiratorial President in the White House. We conclude that the environment in which QAnon thrives is created by social and political polarisation, and that having a conspiratorial president in power does surprisingly little for QAnon, compared to the impact of Trumpism which is indicative of the current political decay. Keywords: QAnon, social media, polarization, conspiracism, Donald Trump 2 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Problem Formulation ............................................................................................................................ 4 3. Theory ................................................................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Brotherton: Key Features of a Conspiracy Theory ................................................................. 6 3.1.1. Context ....................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1.2. Content ....................................................................................................................................... 8 3.1.3 Epistemic Rationale ................................................................................................................... 8 3.2. Rosenblum and Muirhead: Classic Conspiracism and New Conspiracism ................................ 9 3.2.1. Conspiracism and Epistemic Standard ................................................................................. 10 3.2.2. Figure 1: Classic Conspiracism and New Conspiracism ..................................................... 11 2.3. Echo Chamber and Filter Bubble ................................................................................................. 13 2.4. Hashtag Hijacking ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.5. Hellinger and the Trumpian Age .................................................................................................. 17 2.6. Richard Hofstadter: The Paranoid Style of American Politics.................................................. 18 2.7. Theoretical Scope ........................................................................................................................... 20 2.8. Literature review ........................................................................................................................... 21 2.8.1. Academic Scepticism ............................................................................................................... 21 2.8.2. The Political History Behind Conspiracism in the US ......................................................... 22 2.8.3. Comments on Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles .............................................................. 23 2.8.4. What academia defines QAnon as ......................................................................................... 26 2.8.5. On Polarisation ........................................................................................................................ 27 4. Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 28 4.1. Categorising Conspiracism ........................................................................................................... 28 4.1.1. Conspiracism: Distinctive Terms .......................................................................................... 29 4.1.2. Figure 2: Elements of Conspiracism ..................................................................................... 30 4.2. The analytical process .................................................................................................................... 30 4.2.1. Analysis: comparing labels and features............................................................................... 32 4.3. Limitations ...................................................................................................................................... 33 4.4. Addressing QAnon’s adherents .................................................................................................... 34 4.5. Data Treatment .............................................................................................................................. 35 3 5. Empirical Data ..................................................................................................................................... 36 5.1. Statistic by Gallup on presidential job approval ratings ............................................................ 36 5.2. CNN video: Biden’s inauguration led to mom escaping QAnon ............................................... 37 5.3. CNN video: Former QAnon follower explains why she left the movement .............................. 37 5.4. Twitter Screenshots from August 15 and October 31, 2020 ....................................................... 37 6. Analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 38 6.1. Which theoretical categories can be used to describe QAnon? ................................................. 39 6.1.1. Robert Brotherton’s Conspiracy Criteria ............................................................................ 39 6.1.1.1. Context .................................................................................................................................. 39 6.1.1.2. Content .................................................................................................................................. 42 6.1.1.3. Sub conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 43 6.2. New Conspiracism and Classic Conspiracism ............................................................................. 43 6.2.1. QAnon’s development as a Conspiracy Narrative ............................................................... 44 6.2.2. Figure 3: A visual Overview of Classic Conspiracism and New Conspiracism................. 46 6.2.3. A Social movement? ................................................................................................................ 48 6.2.4. Sub conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 51 6.3. Conspiracy Narrative, or Something Entirely Different? .......................................................... 52 6.4. ‘Q’ Works in Mysterious Ways .................................................................................................... 53 6.5. Epistemic Standard: Believing is Belonging ................................................................................ 55 6.5.1. Sub Conclusion