Thread by @studentvieworg

1/8 This piece from @JaneLytv is a great breakdown of the #BillGates conspiracy theory and how it spread and continues to spread, while also including comprehensive debunking

buzzfeednews.com/article/janely…

2/8 The story is interesting for three reasons: 1. How fast it went from nothing to the mainstream, once it started being shared (piggy-backing off prior Gates-related conspiracy theories)

3/8 And 2. How it hopped platforms: from Reddit, to Twitter, to YouTube, to Facebook, snowballing with the size of the accounts sharing it. It exploded in size on Facebook, with hundreds of thousands of engagements

4/8 And 3. How quickly it grew, despite the accounts sharing it not being particularly significant in size or influence. 27,000 subs is *not* a big YouTube account.

Goes to show how misinfo can go viral when 1. piggy-backing off existing theories (Gates/Illuminati etc)

5/8 when 2. Exploiting emotional vulnerabilities & partisan sentiment (coronavirus pandemic & distrust of science by right). Emotions drive shares, and we're all more stressed than usual rn

6/8 and when 3. Propelled by large news outlets that cover the misinformation either critically or uncritically, providing a cover of semi-legitimacy

7/8 For news outlets, leads to the question: When do you debunk misinfo? Too early? Gives it more fuel. Too late? Too many people believe it.

When do you intervene? Hard question to get right! Thoughts @mariannaspring @jimwaterson @JaneLytv?

8/8 Lastly, credit where it is due: excellent reporting from @JaneLytv and @BuzzFeedNews, really clear and authoritative. Shoutout to @CraigSilverman on the same team too 🙌