Examining Online Social Support for Countering QAnon Conspiracies

TL;DR

This study analyzes an online support community for families affected by QAnon, revealing key themes like venting and advice, and identifying factors that increase user engagement in these spaces.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how online communities support families of QAnon adherents and identifies linguistic and thematic factors linked to community engagement.

Findings

Venting, advice, and vaccine refusal are prominent themes.

Posts about family relations and emotional needs correlate with higher engagement.

Online spaces serve as crucial support networks for families of QAnon followers.

Abstract

As radical messaging has proliferated on social networking sites, platforms like Reddit have been used to host support groups, including support communities for the families and friends of radicalized individuals. This study examines the subreddit r/QAnonCasualties, an online forum for users whose loved ones have been radicalized by QAnon. We collected 1,665 posts and 78,171 comments posted between 7/2021 and 7/2022 and content coded top posts for prominent themes. Sentiment analysis was also conducted on all posts. We find venting, advice and validation-seeking, and pressure to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine were prominent themes. 40% (n=167) of coded posts identified the Q relation(s) of users as their parent(s) and 16.3% (n=68) as their partner. Posts with higher proportions of words related to swearing, social referents, and physical needs were positively correlated with engagement. These findings show ways that communities around QAnon adherents leverage anonymous online spaces to seek and provide social support.