Here's what can happen when internet culture is misinterpreted and spirals out of control
If you’ve paid even a tiny bit of attention to the U.S. presidential election this year, then you’ve heard the name QAnon — or “Q” to his followers. In the past four years, Q went from a character in a silly online game to the creator of the biggest international conspiracy theories, perhaps ever.
Followers of Q interpret his purposefully opaque statements to come up with wild conclusions about what’s “really” going on in Washington: Hilary Clinton is the head of a child-sex ring. There’s a battle between good and evil happening — and Trump is the archangel on the side of good. The “deep state” will end when the “Great Awakening” happens and everyone realizes Q was right all along.
But how did this obscure, anonymous conspiracy theory get so popular that the President of the United States has talked about it? The answer lies in what happens when internet culture is misinterpreted — and spirals out of control.
Q first showed up in the run-up to the 2016 election on the site 4chan, where he (or she — Q has never claimed a gender) first appeared as “Q Clearance Patriot.” The name alluded the user had a high-level government security clearance. And, from go, Q posted cryptic messages about the government, which quickly gained a following on the message boards.
“When I first heard about Q, I just thought that it was a troll, basically, and that it was just somebody having a laugh and kind of ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
