A little trooferism goes a long way

Apparently a relatively small number of crackpots can have a major negative influence when it comes to vaccine reluctance:

But according to the documents, Facebook worries that the content that isn’t outright breaking its rules could be problematic. “While research is very early, we’re concerned that harm from non-violating content may be substantial,” the documents said.

That risk of harm seems to be disproportionately impacting a few communities, Facebook’s engineers found.

The results from Facebook’s early research track with findings from disinformation researchers, who have pointed that a small minority of people, particularly influencers and people who post frequently or use underhanded tactics to spread their message, can have an outsize impact on the conversation and act as superspreaders of misleading information.

The researchers noted that while some small percentage of vaccine hesitant comments could be overcome when they are posted in communities with a diverse range of opinions, the concentration of such comments in small groups suggests that they are becoming echo chambers where people simply reinforce people’s preexisting ideas.

In segments that were affiliated with QAnon, the study found sentiment that was skeptical of vaccinations was widespread. “It’s possible QAnon is causally connected to vaccine hesitancy,” the documents said. In QAnon communities, skepticism of vaccines was connected to a distrust of elites and institutions.

Last year, external researchers found that QAnon groups in Facebook were influential in fueling the spread of a misinformation-filled documentary called “Plandemic” on social platforms.

Time for another fawning Jacobin profile of QAnon, I guess.