Conspiracy theories have seen a recent resurgence, coinciding with the increased usage of social media sites. Communities within these sites have allowed new conspiracy theories to come to prominence, the most well known of these being “Birds Aren’t Real.”
Originally founded in 1976 to stop the genocide of real birds, Birds Aren’t Real has found relevance recently following successful Instagram and Twitter campaigns, and through the sale of merchandise on their own website.
“As popularized by Tiktok, birds are not, in fact, real.” said senior Joe Little. “The birds work for [the government]— if you see them ‘migrating’, they’re just going back to HQ to charge.”
Conspiracy theories have been around for ages; be it surrounding the assassination of a political figure, or something as harmless as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, these theories have had an impact on the society they form in. While these theories may be fun to discuss, it’s still important to take their impact into consideration.
“While I enjoy watching YouTube videos on conspiracy theories, it’s important to consider them in contrast with reality,” said senior Ian Collins.
More serious, worldview shaping theories such as the Flat Earth theory have also come to light as of late, high-lighting just how in-sulating these online communities can be to their users' worldviews. Ultimately, when taken lightly conspiracy theories can be a funny joke between friends, but if taken seriously can be detrimental to the believer’s worldview.