University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Doi
Abstract
This dissertation examines social media-based conspiracy theories of the past five years (2016-2021) and considers what this recent conspiracy rhetoric suggests about the evolving relationship between people, platforms, and politics in the contemporary United States. I use the tools of rhetorical theory and criticism to analyze a small archive of conspiracist content across three case studies—Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory alleging a vast pedophilia ring run by political elites; conspiracy theories surrounding the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; and Plandemic, a self-styled “documentary” about COVID-19 conspiracies that went viral in May 2020. In each case study, I show that the conspiracy rhetoric in question uses the unique affordances of social media platforms to amplify that conspiracy theory’s rhetorical efficacy. Ultimately, I argue that conspiracism has now become a durable form of social media content that threatens to wreak havoc on American political discourse.Doctor of Philosoph
