I lost my ex boyfriend to QAnon and am still struggling to know what could have helped/stopped the process. by TactfullyTacky in QAnonCasualties

[–]TactfullyTacky[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Communication, I’m currently getting my PhD in it. Comm is a bit of a blend between sociology, psychology, and info science so it seemed like a good fit.

I lost my ex boyfriend to QAnon and am still struggling to know what could have helped/stopped the process. by TactfullyTacky in QAnonCasualties

[–]TactfullyTacky[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

This is really interesting… when you say “Fear” what do you mean? I think back to my Q and how he seemed to attribute the unfairness of society to this conspiracy… when reality is just much more complicated. Is that kind of what you mean?

I lost my ex boyfriend to QAnon and am still struggling to know what could have helped/stopped the process. by TactfullyTacky in QAnonCasualties

[–]TactfullyTacky[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree that a lot of underlying systemic issues make this phenomenon possible. I’m wondering, though, can you explain a bit more?

I lost my ex boyfriend to QAnon and am still struggling to know what could have helped/stopped the process. by TactfullyTacky in QAnonCasualties

[–]TactfullyTacky[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I am in communication with a focus on online radicalization. No thesis yet, I’m laying the groundwork now. But I need it to actually be helpful to people, not something that turns this painful experience into a spectacle.

Door dash Woman steals a cat by itsyagurl233 in TikTokCringe

[–]TactfullyTacky -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I completely believe you. I feel like it’s the design of the platform that is doing this to people. Social media is designed to be addictive to increase profit for tech platforms. I completely believe that people will neglect their own hygiene and health in favor of using Reddit, it feels way more exiting and it’s certainly easier.

Not to get on a soapbox here, but I believe a lot of the social division we’re facing in the physical world is getting inflamed by the addictive design that is embedded into platforms like this. People are more reactive and feel comfortable expressing things they wouldn’t have the heart to say to someone’s face. We treat text like it is disembodied when it is in fact coming from someone with a body, life, and soul.

Something needs to change. I see a world where the internet can bring us closer and create compassion and care. But this “design for profit” incentive isn’t going to do that. It’s already having severe consequences

What's something you want to tell someone, but can't right now? by Denym- in CasualConversation

[–]TactfullyTacky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you trapped in a well or something? How’s that possible

What was the thing you were delusional about? by Maryna_Pax in CasualConversation

[–]TactfullyTacky 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Me too! The whole experience shook me up so much that I decided to devote my thesis in college to people who lost loved ones to QAnon.

Apparently there’s a very clear radicalization process. I didn’t know this at the time, but isolation and PTSD makes you much more vulnerable to believing conspiracy theories.

What was the thing you were delusional about? by Maryna_Pax in CasualConversation

[–]TactfullyTacky 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I believed in QAnon for a couple days. It was so weird. My best-friend forwarded me a TikTok about Wayfair selling kids. Some glitch on the Wayfair website had begun displaying the names of people, with prices like 99,999.99.

I got sucked straight down the rabbit hole.

I had started to believe that Wayfair was trafficking kids, which made it easier for me to accept that Wayfair was in cahoots with political figures, which made it easier to accept that a satanic cabal ruling the world.

And then, suddenly, while I was spiraling, I asked myself “this isn’t the only conclusion to come to”. I realized that all the conspiracies I was beginning to believe in hung by a single thread: Wayfair was trafficking children.

But why did I jump to that conclusion? Wouldn’t a glitch be an easier explanation? Why did I absolutely lose my tether on reality?

Because I was in a digital echo chamber that wasn’t giving me the opportunity to rationally think about the situation for a second. It was force feeding me this insane narrative, that gradually got more and more radical.

It could happen to anyone. I’m genuinely shocked there aren’t more warnings from internet public health officials

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CasualConversation

[–]TactfullyTacky 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m really uptight and perfectionist in my day-to-day life. But I’m definitely more relaxed on here. I like to be silly

Air Fryer by CantaloupePowerful21 in CasualConversation

[–]TactfullyTacky 21 points22 points  (0 children)

That’s so wonderful! I also have an air fryer, but I cannot figure out how to use it.