I went full QAnon for a month just to see what the fuss was about

Last year I decided to dive headfirst into QAnon forums and Telegram channels for 30 days. I kept a log of every prediction and claim I came across, like the storm happening by August or Hillary being arrested any day now. By week two I was starting to doubt my own sanity because the community is so convincing with their language and symbols. The breaking point was when they claimed JFK Jr. would reappear at a Dallas rally in November. I drove three hours to that thing and stood in the heat waiting for a dead guy to show up. He did not. The whole experiment cost me about $200 in gas and snacks and taught me that echo chambers can make anyone believe anything if you stay long enough. Has anyone else tried infiltrating a group like that just to test your own critical thinking?

2 comments

2 Comments

thea1432d ago

At least you got a nice snack out of wasting three hours on a ghost hunt.

zarapalmer2d ago

Wasting time is kind of a subjective thing, isn't it? If you had fun exploring with friends and made a memory out of it, then it's not really a waste. Some of my best nights have been ones where nothing spooky happened and we just ended up laughing at how silly we were being. Plus, a good snack always makes any kind of adventure worth it, in my book.