Conspiracism is fueled by entrepreneurs seeking money and influence, not its consumers.

Evidence

Those who buy into conspiracist accusations have their reasons for believing what they do. They are for the most part consumers of conspiratorial accusations, not inventors. They might repeat an accusation—or retweet it. But they are not the origins of the charge. Much of the new conspiracism originates with conspiracist entrepreneurs, ambitious people who peddle conspiracy in return for money, celebrity, and influence. Take Alex Jones, the Texas talk show host who was once among the most prominent producers of conspiracist narratives. (And a declared favorite of Trump.) Conspiracism is a lucrative business, and Jones manufactures charges that he expects will be popular. His business is entertainment: he works to make his narratives titillating and persuasive. But he also wants political influence. He wants his audience to find his claims true enough—worth amplifying and repeating online in what has become a distinct form of political participation. Under pressure, Jones may concede that some of his claims, taken individually, are fabulations. He has been sued multiple times, including by families of the victims of the horrific 2012 school massacre at Sandy Hook for spreading the claim that the shooting was a false-flag attack and that the grieving parents were “crisis actors” hired to pretend to sorrow and loss. Jones settled several civil cases brought against him, offering tepid apologies and retractions for “what [he] now understand[s] to be wrong.” But even the retraction of an individual item does not slow the production of new ones. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 134

Categorization

• XREF: Distinguishes producers from consumers of conspiracy, parallel to the Milgrom distinction between reputation systems and institutions; also connects to the broader separation of originators from amplifiers of misinformation in recent commentary. — connects to: Conspiracy entrepreneurs manufacture charges for money, celebrity, and influence. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 134; Conspiracy entrepreneurs merchandise wholly unrelated beliefs into a single confident persona — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 46

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy entrepreneurs manufacture charges for money, celebrity, and influence. #corroborates (0.95) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 134
• Conspiracy entrepreneurs merchandise wholly unrelated beliefs into a single confident persona #expands (0.85) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 46