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When I was growing up in the ‘80s, I recall hearing about soap opera fans so invested in their “stories” that they believed characters were real people — so much so that they’d accost actors on the street about the affairs or betrayals they committed on air.
It seemed utterly absurd to me as a kid that people could have such a tenuous grip on reality. But now as a journalist covering my seventh presidential election, that scenario seems rather quaint.
Social media, deepfakes and artificial intelligence make it easier than ever for us to construct our own reality — or at least wallow in someone else’s version of it. It’s also never been easier to connect with others who have fringe views — and even though many of those accounts are bots, they inject these ideas into the mainstream.
Anytime the Michigan Advance posts our stories about racial injustice or LGBTQ+ issues, for instance, we get waves of anonymous replies using slurs and even calling for violence against people. This wasn’t a part of everyday life a couple decades ago and now this misanthropic behavior is almost taken for granted.
I think it’s one of the reasons why people seem to be so exhausted these days. You can’t do your job, go to a movie — you can’t just exist — without someone judging you online or trying to ruin your day.
Meanwhile, politicians, foreign powers, billionaires and garden-variety trolls are all seeking to exploit this societal fracturing for their own ends during this election. We’ve seen this with dangerous disinformation they’ve spread about recent hurricanes; the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, Ohio; and trans kids and schools.
And while they blur the lines of reality, they seem to be making the divisions in our country even sharper.
Take the U.S. economy. After the shock of the COVID pandemic and incessant fears of a recession during the Biden administration that never came to pass, we have the strongest economy in the world. Inflation is dropping, unemployment is low and the stock market is breaking records.
One of the maxims of political reporting is, as former President Bill Clinton said: “It’s the economy, stupid.” That’s supposed to be the issue that trumps all others in elections. The party that holds the White House is supposed to win when the economy is good and lose when it’s not.
But apparently, that’s no longer true. For most of the 2024 election cycle, Republicans have held an advantage on the economy.
At the same time, TikTok and X have been deluged this cycle with accounts claiming we’re in a recession, it’s impossible to get a job and grocery staples cost far more than they do (Doordash prices don’t count). None of these things are remotely true, yet millions believe these myths. (A great way to snag some online hate is tweeting that you’re doing pretty well in this economy).
But we didn’t get to a place where people are detached from their actual material circumstances overnight.
Millions of people subscribe to various conspiracy theories — and this goes way beyond silly ones like believing in Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster or the moon landing being faked.
A quarter of American adults believe vaccines cause autism, according to a December YouGov survey, and roughly the same amount think that mass shootings have been faked by groups promoting gun control laws.
Twenty percent said that the U.S. government is using the COVID-19 vaccine to microchip the population and 31% think former President Barack Obama wasn’t born in America. The conspiracy theories that many top Democrats are involved in child sex-trafficking rings and voting machines were programmed to change votes in the 2020 election won 29% support apiece.
Social media, deepfakes and artificial intelligence make it easier than ever for us to construct our own reality — or at least wallow in someone else’s version of it. It’s also never been easier to connect with others who have fringe views — and even though many of those accounts are bots, they inject these ideas into the mainstream.
– Susan J. Demas
But, as with everything in modern American life, there’s a partisan divide. And Republicans are more into these conspiracies than Democrats.
While 13% of Democrats believe vaccines cause autism, 36% of Republicans do. The numbers for each conspiracy theory vary, but the pattern is the same: faked mass shootings (11% Dem, 35% GOP); government microchipping people with the COVID shot (14% Dem, 28% GOP); Obama wasn’t born in the USA (15% Dem, 54% GOP); Dems doing Pizzagate (14% Dem, 42% GOP); and 2020 voting machines were rigged (13% Dem, 53% GOP).
Interestingly, one conspiracy theory with a slim partisan split was that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks on New York City, which drew support from 17% of Democrats and 21% of Republicans.
Given that Republicans are more likely to buy into conspiracies, it’s not a surprise that they’re the target for many of the biggest ones this election.
Former President Donald Trump has made his plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants the centerpiece of his campaign. At the September presidential debate, he said, “In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating — they are eating the pets of the people that live there.”
That’s been widely debunked, with even his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, admitting the claims weren’t true. But one poll showed over half of Trump voters believe them. And Springfield has seen an influx of extremists and bomb threats, which has shaken the once-sleepy city.
With two hurricanes barrelling through the U.S. in recent weeks, leaving devastation from Florida to Tennessee, they’ve been accompanied by a swirl of lies.
“Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done,” U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on social media on Oct. 3.
Some of her fellow Republicans called her out for pushing conspiracies during a time of tragedy and loss, with Florida U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez declaring that she should get her “head examined.”
“There’s no place for misinformation, especially when it’s on purpose, at times like this,” the former firefighter-paramedic said in a CNN interview.
An aerial view of gas being burned off near overturned tank cars amid flood damage wrought by Hurricane Helene along the Swannanoa River on October 4, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. At least 215 people were killed in six states in the wake of the powerful hurricane which made landfall as a Category 4. President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,000 active duty U.S. soldiers to assist with storm relief efforts in what is now the deadliest U.S. mainland hurricane since Hurricane Katrina. | Mario Tama/Getty Images
It doesn’t help when Elon Musk, the owner of X, posts false claims seen by millions that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) blocked shipments to help residents following the disaster.
As we saw during the pandemic, when there were thousands of needless deaths due to people refusing to get vaccinated, conspiracy theories can have deadly consequences.
Just as Dr. Anthony Fauci devoted hours in briefings to debunking COVID misinformation, FEMA has been forced to launch a Hurricane Rumor Response page. And in a dystopian, but unsurprising twist, an armed North Carolina man was arrested last week for threatening FEMA workers doing recovery work.
As the election looms, many of us are worried about seeing a repeat of the threats and violence that followed that 2020 election. With 53% of Republicans still believing in voting machine machinations during the last election, it would seem that there’s fertile ground for more conspiracies this time around.
As journalists, it’s our responsibility to present the facts on the ground, even when millions depressingly reject them (and are angry at us just for doing our jobs).
We’ll continue to do that on Election Day and beyond. But in our create-your-own reality culture, I fear that may not be enough.
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