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Study Blames YouTube for Rise in Number of Flat Earthers

posted by mrpg on Monday February 18 2019, @11:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-blame-YOU dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Researchers believe they have identified the prime driver for a startling rise in the number of people who think the Earth is flat: Google’s video-sharing site, YouTube.

Their suspicion was raised when they attended the world’s largest gatherings of Flat Earthers at the movement’s annual conference in Rayleigh, North Carolina, in 2017, and then in Denver, Colorado, last year.

Interviews with 30 attendees revealed a pattern in the stories people told about how they came to be convinced that the Earth was not a large round rock spinning through space but a large flat disc doing much the same thing.

Of the 30, all but one said they had not considered the Earth to be flat two years ago but changed their minds after watching videos promoting conspiracy theories on YouTube. “The only person who didn’t say this was there with his daughter and his son-in-law and they had seen it on YouTube and told him about it,” said Asheley Landrum, who led the research at Texas Tech University.

[...] Some said they watched the videos only in order to debunk them but soon found themselves won over by the material.

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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:06AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:06AM (#803252)

    If I take my ruler, or even my yardstick, out to a nice level lot, guess what: it's FLAT. Perfectly even and level.

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  • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:10AM (1 child)

    by isostatic (365) on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:10AM (#803254) Journal

    I live at the top of a hill. Checkmate.

    • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:18AM

      by RamiK (1813) on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:18AM (#803260)

      I'd enjoy the Napa valley winery tour. Crown me!

      --
      compiling...

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:34AM

    by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:34AM (#803398)

    That's because your yardstick is curved. It looks like it's straight ... at least that's what Big Yardstick has been telling us for decades.

  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:46PM (1 child)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:46PM (#803603) Journal

    If I take my ruler, or even my yardstick, out to a nice level lot, guess what: it's FLAT. Perfectly even and level.

    Yeah, a lot that humans MADE flat. If I look out my window I see mountains. Definitely not flat.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 21 2019, @12:19AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 21 2019, @12:19AM (#804312) Journal
      I looked outside my window and saw snow on mountains. I blame climate flatness.