“We Are in Control”: Instagram Influencers and the Proliferation of Conspiracy Narratives in Digital Spaces
“We Are in Control”: Instagram Influencers and the Proliferation of Conspiracy Narratives in Digital Spaces
Author(s): Marie HeřmanováSubject(s): Media studies, Social Theory, Crowd Psychology: Mass phenomena and political interactions, Social Norms / Social Control
Published by: Ústav etnológie a sociálnej antropológie Slovenskej akadémie vied
Keywords: Influencers; Instagram; conspiracy theories; conspirituality; gender;
Summary/Abstract: Female spiritual influencers on Instagram engage with conspiracy content and appeal to the issue of control over female bodies to bridge the gap between mainstream and fringe online spaces. I use the concept of “third space” to analyse the dynamics of Instagram communities around spiritual influencers and highlight how these communities operate as spaces for political discussion while simultaneously appearing apolitical from the outside. Analysing data from participant observation and interviews with six female Czech spiritual influencers, I place their online communication and presentation within the context of the conspirituality movement (Ward, Voas, 2011). Furthermore, I present ethnographic evidence on how the influencers moved from spiritual to conspiritual content within their everyday online performances.
Journal: Slovenský národopis
- Issue Year: 70/2022
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 349-368
- Page Count: 20
- Language: English
