Apparently, everything is a conspiracy. A web of lies and deceit forms the very foundation of everything. Spun to dismantle reality, to make you believe that nothing is what you think. Making up that web: videos with unserious scary music beginning with “did you know about” or “you won’t believe this.” It’s healthy to question everything, to an extent. When falling down that conspiracy rabbit hole, don’t go too far. I’ve noticed a lot of the people I love falling too far.
There’s a disturbing trend. In fact, I’m experiencing it at home.
I dread getting the text that a TikTok has been shared with me. I know that it won’t just be a silly meme. It is some form of content further feeding and spreading lies or pushing paranoia. It seems that some members of my family have become trapped in that web of conspiracies during their quest to untangle it.
I consider myself an intelligent and educated woman — a woman who is empathetic, sensitive and loving. But, lately, I’ve become a brainwashed sheep with the wrong answers to everything. A sheep that relies on science, not religion. A sheep that is sometimes angry and emotional in the defense of the people she loves and her beliefs.
They just take everything to the extreme and that’s frustrating.
During the pandemic, I especially noticed this division in ideology and beliefs. Many of my family members leaned toward the side of no masks and no vaccinations. I actually lost a family member to Covid-19 because they refused to get vaccinated until it was too late.
How do I explain to a grown adult that the earth isn’t flat without getting frustrated? How do I hold someone accountable when they are constantly being fed further lies that cement their false narrative?
There is a new wave of paranoia spreading among the ones we love. The same generation that taught us not to trust anything we see on the internet are also highly susceptible to online right-wing radicalization. According to the American Society of Aging, “No longer are radicalizing narratives limited to the dark corners of the internet that only young people visit. Rather, they can be found on cable news, talk radio and the mainstream social media sites that are frequented by the young and old alike.”
It is scary to watch someone you love’s reality slip through their fingers. Suddenly, everything has some deeper, more malicious meaning. Someone who was once grounded, open-minded, and empathetic to the plights of others is warped into a regurgitative machine, the opposite of who you once thought they were.
A post from one TikTok user says, “Goodbye to the fathers we thought we knew.” Underneath the post, commenters sympathize with the user’s feeling of betrayal due to differences in political beliefs. I wiped tears, as this small trend on TikTok confronted the heavy ever-increasing post-election tension dividing many American families, including my own.
No one talks about it enough. No one talks about how scary it is to watch the ones we love fall for misinformative right-wing rhetoric or propaganda, falling into a deep paranoia from simply scrolling on social media.
No one talks about how hard it is to continue a relationship with loved ones, remembering that in their eyes, you and others are already condemned to the pits of hell.
It doesn’t matter what good I do or how much education I get. It doesn’t matter how hard I scrape and claw my way through. It doesn’t matter what credible facts I spread on the table. They’re just too far gone.
I follow the facts. I know history. I don’t make assumptions. I vet my sources. I don’t trust everything I see on the internet. I learn and keep learning. I grow and keep growing.
I am not saying that I know everything or that I can’t be wrong about things. I’m not saying that a healthy amount of curiosity is a bad thing. I love to be curious! I’m worried about the place curiosity leads when you’re not careful. Don’t fly too close to the sun.
Soon, things become us versus them. To some members of my family, I’ve become one of “them”.
We live in a world dominated by industry and technology. New advances are made every day to better connect us. It’s good to listen to a real person talk about important issues in some other part of the country. It’s good to have diverse voices that are easily accessible. It’s good to take apart, dissect and analyze what we know or what we think we know together.
Sometimes, the answer is simple. Sometimes, the answer is deeply complex. There is some type of reason for everything, but deciphering the message or signage is where most find trouble. So many of my family members are so close to the truth and unknowingly surpass reason into the ridiculous. When something is not straightforward, you just need to know where to dig.
To my fellow members of Gen-Z, be careful. Don’t just be wary about the exposure of your younger siblings; be wary about the exposure of your parents. Remember, even though we’ve had the internet for a while, to be wary of your own algorithm’s subconscious influence. Be careful not to lose yourself, too.