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Cults & the Internet: Be Careful what you Search for...

In the last blog post, we discussed how interconnected our world has become with the myriad sources of communication we have at our fingertips. The internet makes it much easier for people to connect with each other all across the world. Likeminded people find forums and chat rooms to interact with each other and discuss their hobbies, interests and beliefs.

Cults, just like other extremist organizations who have learned how to master the internet, can use these methods of communication to disseminate information to their followers instantly. This means that the cult culture is no longer a part of your life only when you choose it to be; information is always accessible and encourages individuals to never disconnect from it and devote their entire existence to it. How does this work?


Imagine this scenario. You’re learning how to cook or bake, and begin looking up recipes for different creations to try. You search for a couple of hours and when you’re satisfied with a recipe, you look up a YouTube video that demonstrates how to make it. You’re impressed with how it turned out, and tell yourself that you’ll try another recipe in a couple of days.

The following day, you’re scrolling through your social media and an advertisement pops up for the very dish you made the previous day. You shrug it off as a mere coincidence. Later, you open up YouTube, and the first video recommendations is of someone cooking or baking. You think this is odd, but don’t think much else of it. Then, you scroll over to Amazon, and one of the top recommended products for you to purchase is a cooking or baking utensil. Your digital footprint is being traced through algorithms, and suddenly, all of your favoured websites begin advertising cooking and baking to you.

All of this is to say that whenever someone searches something on the internet, that data is recorded and stored. Suggestions for similar types of information pop up, and it becomes easy to go down a rabbit hole into these newfound online environments. The websites you frequent track your search history and analyze your ‘digital footprint’ to determine what content to show you in order to illicit the response they're looking for: your urge to return.


When an individual becomes involved in a cult, they are more likely to search for information that confirms what they are learning in the organization. Cults spread misinformation to their followers, and misinformation spreads much quicker through the internet than any other form of media due to the sheer abundance of it (Acerbi, 2019, p. 5). When individuals find others who share the same beliefs, they become reinforced and legitimized. A sense of community is developed in the cult and in these online forums to which an individual gets drawn in and finds a sense of meaning and belonging. Furthermore, “it is more difficult for their relatives to realize that there is a danger, as everything happens behind the screen” (AEDH, 2019).

Of course, cults existed long before the internet was widely available. Two of the most famous cults, the Peoples Temple and the Manson Family, were able to operate without these forms of online communication existed. We’ll be discussing cults before the internet age in the next blog post!

Cheers!


References:

Acerbi, Alberto. “Cognitive Attraction and Online Misinformation.” Palgrave Communications 5. 2019. URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0224-y

European Association for the Defense of Human Rights. “Cults and the Transition to the Internet.” 2019. URL: http://www.aedh.eu/en/cults-and-the-transition-to-the-internet/

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