How social media influencer tactics help conspiracy theories gain traction online

What do social media influencers and conspiracy theorists have in common?

It’s a question that sociologist Stephanie Alice Baker from City, University of London had not seriously considered before the COVID-19 pandemic.

But while investigating how social media influencers were responding to the pandemic she noticed that the techniques lifestyle gurus used to promote themselves were also being adopted by conspiracy theorists.

These were techniques that Dr Baker had described in a recently published book titled Lifestyle Gurus: Constructing Authority and Influence Online.

“I think these are just savvy marketing techniques. [Influencers] are not all trying to dupe the public, but they are brands,” Dr Baker says.

“It’s important to see…