New post, on what the #wiredarchive can teach us about #QAnon. “QAnon, immersive gaming, and the impending nihilistic collapse of civic life” medium.com/@davekarpf/qan…
Here’s a TL;DR tweetstorm version:
QAnon isn’t just a mind-boggling conspiracy theory.
It’s also, basically, an Alternate Reality Game.
Here’s a 2007 @WIRED piece on ARGs, “Secret Websites, Coded Messages.” wired.com/2007/12/ff-arg… (2/x)
QAnon isn’t just a mind-boggling conspiracy theory.
It’s also, basically, an Alternate Reality Game.
Here’s a 2007 @WIRED piece on ARGs, “Secret Websites, Coded Messages.” wired.com/2007/12/ff-arg… (2/x)
ARGs reward intense fan bases by letting them dig deeper into their favorite stories. Think Lost, or Mr Robot, or Westworld.
They reward passionate fans, giving them a sense of camaraderie and superiority as they piece together What’s Really Going On.
(3/x)
They reward passionate fans, giving them a sense of camaraderie and superiority as they piece together What’s Really Going On.
(3/x)
Part of what’s driving QAnon is the long-term trend towards treating politics/government/governance as a game with no real-world consequences.
Republicans root for/vote for Rs because that’s “their team.” They root against Democrats (and journalists) bc that’s the other team.
Republicans root for/vote for Rs because that’s “their team.” They root against Democrats (and journalists) bc that’s the other team.
We have, generally, been losing the capacity to treat policymaking as if it matters. We view government action/inaction like draft picks and free agency. (“Will this help them win?”)
When you stop acting like government matters, Things Get Weird.
QAnon is the natural endpoint of that weirdening.
If Trump vs CNN/Mueller/Dems/NATO is just entertainment, then why not treat Hillary like the Smoke Monster?
QAnon is the natural endpoint of that weirdening.
If Trump vs CNN/Mueller/Dems/NATO is just entertainment, then why not treat Hillary like the Smoke Monster?
Sure, the conspiracy theory makes zero-goddamn-sense.
But neither did the Smoke Monster in the end!
It was still more fun along the way.
But neither did the Smoke Monster in the end!
It was still more fun along the way.
The real takeaway, I think, is that QAnon isn’t evidence of Trump supporters cracking under extreme cognitive dissonance.
It’s evidence of Trump supporters accepting the premise that none of this matters anyway, and then participating in the story to make it more fun.
It’s evidence of Trump supporters accepting the premise that none of this matters anyway, and then participating in the story to make it more fun.
