Willaert, T., & Meyer, T. (2024). Knowledge refracted: A bibliometric analysis of conspiracy texts on Telegram. Volume 4, Issue 1, 2024, Radices, https://doi.org/10.21825/radices.91992
Abstract:
Because of their narrative complexity and idiosyncratic themes, conspiracy theories on social media might easily be dismissed as all but detached from scientific or political reality. Adding nuance to this view, this paper demonstrates that online conspiracy theories cannot truly be understood in isolation from established systems of communication and (scientific) knowledge production. To this end, we draw on methods from the field of bibliometrics to offer an empirically-informed discussion of how scientific knowledge is used and abused in extreme communities on the messaging platform Telegram. Our analysis thereby surfaces 1) the different types of scientific sources with which politically extreme communities on Telegram engage, 2) the narratives these channels support by invoking these sources, and 3) the discursive and rhetorical techniques that are used to frame scientific knowledge in light of extreme narratives. Based on these findings, we critically reflect on the societal implications of the connection between scientific knowledge and extreme narratives.