#DAVID WEISS FLAT EARTH YOU TUBE CHANNEL DRIVER#

The article concludes with a discussion of the discursive dynamics of Flat Earth and conspiracy belief on YouTube, and its relation to other discourses. The first of these is a critical examination of the texts of several hundred Flat Earth videos, examples of which are listed in the Appendix, the second being a timeline of events in Flat Earth discourse as constructed from a large sample of YouTube metadata, chronicling its growth and relation to external events. The argument is developed through two distinct approaches. The goal of this article is to describe Flat Earth discourse on YouTube, and to explain its relation to the broader context. External events influence the YouTube Flat Earth discourse and facilitate crossover into other media Flat Earth and similar conspiracy beliefs can thus overcome their stigmatized, marginal status and attain greater influence. Such a view misses an important point, namely that all of the above phenomena are deeply connected within YouTube, and the larger context subsumes them together with Flat Earth, which in turn exemplifies the course such ideas can take. Against this background, Flat Earth belief in mainstream media might seem unremarkable. Russian disinformation is a major component of some stories (Aro, 2016 Khaldarova and Pantti 2016 Sindelar, 2014 Zelenkauskaite and Niezgoda, 2017), and trolling (Chen, 2016 Fichman and Sanfilippo, 2016) and toxic discourse (Gallagher, et al., 2018 Hoggan and Litwin, 2016 Massanari, 2017 Risam, 2015) are endemic to most social media forums. Some of these stories involve conspiracy theories that become news events, such as the вЂњpizzagateвЂќ shooting at a Washington D.C. Social media underpins a robust industry in вЂњfake newsвЂќ, which is sometimes satirical, sometimes malicious, and sometimes simply sensational (Allcott and Gentzkow, 2017 Berkowitz and Schwartz, 2016 Fenton and Freedman, 2018 Lazer, et al., 2017 Sydell, 2016 Pennycook and Rand, 2017). For the YouTube discourse, these issues are relevant, but much more is involved.Д¬ontemporary social media exhibits a range of phenomena in which adherence to objective truth is strained. When people want to discredit scientific theories or other ideas, they compare them to Flat Earth belief Darwinian evolution was notably promoted this way (Gould, 1995 Russel, 1991). Flat Earthers are a tiny minority, and modern technologies like the Global Positioning System, telecommunications satellites, and even the Internet are inconsistent with such beliefs. After all, Flat Earth belief is widely taken to be synonymous with a completely wrong world view. One might still question the relevance of the events. To an outside observer it could appear that all of these these events were publicity stunts with no broader relevance, yet to anyone aware of it, their Flat-Earth communications were clearly influenced by an active YouTube discourse and intended to contribute to it. and reality television star Tila Tequila declared their Flat Earth belief on Twitter, challenging their audiences to refute their views by posting video evidence online. This community produced the first Flat Earth International Conference 9вЂ“10 November 2017 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Rather, they represent a community of people who primarily communicate through YouTube. Hughes and his sponsor are not alone in believing that the Earth is flat. The flight, canceled due to weather and mechanical failures, was intended to carry him 1,800 feet in the air over Amboy, California his principal sponsor was a YouTube channel Research Flat Earth (channel ID UCXa5atseqfc03pzESmb1nKg).

#DAVID WEISS FLAT EARTH YOU TUBE CHANNEL DRIVER#

On 2 December 2017, retired limousine driver and amateur stunt man вЂњMadвЂќ Mike Hughes publicly declared his intent to launch himself in a homemade, steam-powered rocket using a converted mobile home as a ramp. The phenomenon cannot be properly understood without recognizing the distinct contribution of all of these elements. I argue that this phenomenon represents fusion of multiple influences unique to YouTube, including conspiracy theory, climate change denial, science documentaries, clickbait, viral videos, trolling, Russian propaganda, and young-Earth religious fundamentalism. The videos at the source of this stir are highly ambiguous. Flat Earth discourse sometimes crosses into other public discourse, but YouTube remains singularly important in promoting Flat Earth belief and encouraging development of its supporting arguments. Thousands of such videos have been produced, gathering multiple millions of views. An active contemporary discourse on YouTube revolves around the idea that the Earth is flat instead of round, and how Flat Earth cosmology is related to contemporary political, religious and cultural issues.

David weiss flat earth you tube channel