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Picturing Opaque Power: How

April-June 2022: 1­–23
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DOI: 10.1177/20563051221089568
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Oppositional Videos on YouTube journals.sagepub.com/home/sms

Kamile Grusauskaite1 , Jaron Harambam2, and Stef Aupers1

Abstract
Conspiracy theories were once perceived as delusions of individuals on the fringes of society, but have become commonplace
in mainstream culture. Today, they are produced, consumed, and circulated on various online media environments. From
memes on 4chan, QAnon influencers on Instagram, to flat earth or antivaxx videos on YouTube, modern-day conspiracy
culture embodies compelling mediated images and narratives that are composed of various audiovisual materials. Building on
Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model, and Henry Jenkins’ notion of “participatory culture,” we analyze these audiovisual
conspiracy theories as “oppositional readings” of hegemonic truths. More concretely, we analyze how conspiracy theorists
reconstruct various audiovisual (mass-media) materials into streamlined narratives on YouTube videos to picture opaque
power. Based on an in-depth qualitative analysis of 24 conspiracy theory videos, strategically selected from a larger sample of
200, we present three major categories of audiovisual narrative construction in conspiracy videos on YouTube: (1) Simulating:
using fiction, religious and cultural images and narratives to render images of events otherwise invisible; (2) Deciphering:
decoding hidden messages by “closely reading” images and looking for hidden symbolism; (3) Exhibiting: exposing information,
research, and images that are “hidden in plain sight” but point to conspiracy. This article contributes to the growing body
of literature on conspiracy theories by showing how they are not just texts, but should better be seen as media practices
involving the recontextualizing of (mass)media material into new audiovisual conspiracy theory narratives. This shapes not
just their content and form, but also their place in public discourse.

Keywords
audiovisual communication, conspiracy theories, encoding/decoding, YouTube

Introduction “continuously sampled, remixed and even remade by online

From stories about secret societies like the Illuminati, ter-
rorist attacks of 9/11, chemtrails, 5G networks, vaccina-
tions, or the coronavirus—conspiracy theories about the
secret, powerful groups controlling society have become
widespread in the last decades (e.g., Aupers, 2012; Barkun,
2006; Harambam, 2020; Knight, 2000; Oliver & Wood,
2014). Media play an important role; conspiracy narratives
are popularized through the Internet and spread rapidly on
social media (e.g., De Zeeuw & Tuters, 2020; Sunstein &
Vermeule, 2009; Vosoughi et al., 2018). Conspiracy theo-
ries today are deeply mediatized cultural products: from
conspiracy memes on 4chan and the “save the children”
movement on Instagram to “flat earth” videos on YouTube.
The Internet is often understood as a “breeding ground for
the transmission of conspirational ideas” (Starbird, 2017)
where self-contained conspirational “echo chambers” are
formed (Bessi et al., 2015) and conspiracy theories are
users” (Stano, 2020, p. 493).
The crucial role of the Internet in the spread and populariza-
tion of conspiracy theories is central to broader moral-political
debates about disinformation, fake news, and post-truth (Leal,
2020; Lewandowsky et al., 2017; Wardle & Derakhshan,
2017). In this article, we step away from such moral concerns
by empirically studying conspiracy theories in a concrete
media context. Theories about conspiracies, evil plots, and
invisible power are not just abstract ideas or random chunks of
information “going viral” on the Internet. They are concrete
media practices (Bräuchler & Postill, 2010)—cultural products
1
KU Leuven, Belgium
2
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Corresponding Author:
Kamile Grusauskaite, Institute for Media Studies, KU Leuven, Parkstraat
45 – box 3603, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Email: kamile.grusauskaite@kuleuven.be

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2 Social Media + Society
grounded in what people actually do on the Internet with the
countless media resources available. We, therefore, study in
empirical detail how conspiracy theorists construct their oppo-
sitional narratives online and how these are informed, sup-
ported, and shaped by the technological affordances of social
media, or specifically, YouTube as an audiovisual medium. In
more theoretical terms, our research problem boils down to the
question: how do conspiracy theorists picture opaque power on
YouTube? To empirically assess this question, we selected 200
YouTube videos derived from 40 conspiracy theory channels
and, based on theoretical selection, performed an in-depth,
qualitative content analysis of 24 videos.
Picturing Opaque Power on YouTube
From the early works of Sigmund Freud, Karl Popper, and
Richard Hofstadter onward, conspiracy theories are often
described as “pathological,” “delusional,” “irrational,”
“extremist,” and a danger to society (Harambam, 2020). In
this study, however, we adopt a cultural sociological perspec-
tive and take an agnostic stance: conspiracy theories may or
may not be true or dangerous but should be empirically stud-
ied as narratives that give meaning to people. They have
become particularly salient in contemporary, late- or post-
modern societies where social systems, institutions, and
power structures have become overly complex and opaque
(Aupers, 2012; Harambam, 2020; Knight, 2000; Melley,
2000). In this situation, Frederic Jameson noted 30 years ago,
conspiracy theories function as “cognitive maps” to represent
social systems that have become too complex to represent, or
even, to “think the impossible totality of the contemporary
world system” (1991, p. 38). Conspiracy theories hence give
answers to nagging questions about “what is really going on”
in global politics, economy, and the media landscape and,
particularly, are meaningful stories to make sense of what we
call “opaque power”: power structures that cannot (easily) be
seen, visualized or represented by citizens in a complex, late-
modern society, but, precisely because of this opacity, fuel the
collective imagination about a (global) conspiracy.
In these sociological theories on the function and cultural
meanings of conspiracy theories in late-modern societies,
however, there is hardly attention paid to the question of how
people actually make sense of opaque power in everyday life:
how they represent the “hidden conspiracy,” actively con-
struct “cognitive maps” and, in doing so, try to convince oth-
ers of the “truth out there.” If we want to deal with this “how”
question we have to look at media representations and, more
precisely, take into account that every medium provides dif-
ferent affordances to represent and communicate the message
(e.g., McLuhan, 1964; Meyrowitz, 1994). In most studies on
conspiracy culture, the focus lies on mass media texts and
encoded ideologies: literature and fiction (Knight, 2000;
Melley, 2000), film, television series and documentaries
(Butter, 2020), and lyrics in rap songs (Gosa, 2011). This
methodological focus on published texts; however, blinkers
the fact that conspiracy theories in everyday life/for ordinary
people are neither stable narratives nor full-fledged world-
views. Conspiracy theorists should therefore better be consid-
ered audiences involved in “interpretive practices” since their
theories about opaque power are unstable, open-ended, and
often nonconclusive interpretations of “the truth out there”
(Dean, 1998 Knight, 2000).
If we want to study how ordinary people imagine opaque
power, in short, we should shift the focus of analysis from
conspiracy theories in mass media texts to the way people
interpret, appropriate, decode, and modify such texts with
media. This brings us, first of all, to the approach of audience
studies (e.g., Fiske, 1998; Hall, 1980; Radway, 1987). In his
essay “Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse,”
Hall (1980) presents a theoretical framework for understand-
ing how media messages are produced, disseminated, and
interpreted. Mass media texts, as his argument goes, are
always decoded in their consumption since people with dif-
ferent social-economic backgrounds produce different read-
ings and meanings that, respectively, confirm, negotiate, or
oppose the preferred (original) reading (Hall, 1980). His
model has been influential in the field of cultural studies that
analyze the ways different groups view and understand
media products. In our study, we use Hall’s encoding/decod-
ing model to conceptualize and understand the “oppositional
readings” of conspiracy theorists. Following Hall, opposi-
tional readings go “against the grain”: they are counter-hege-
monic interpretations of mass media, wherein the reader
does not share the text’s original code and imbues it with
alternative ideological codes. Conspiracy theory producers
exemplify “oppositional readers”: they antagonistically
“decode” societally dominant narratives and views, reinter-
pret mainstream media material (i.e., newspapers, broadcast
news, film, and other media material), and reconstruct it in a
relentless form of “bricolage” to unveil the “truth out there”
(Aupers, 2020; Harambam, 2020).
Although Hall wrote about mass media texts, the open,
interactive, and nonhierarchical structure of the Internet affords
even more agency to media users and diffuses distinctions
between encoding and decoding, production and consumption.
Jenkins (2012) writes in this respect about “participatory cul-
ture” exemplified by the Internet. “Participatory culture” refers
to the involvement of users, audiences, consumers, and fans in
the creation of culture and content—an idea that departs from a
previously held view of people as mere consumers of tradi-
tional media. On Internet platforms like Twitter, Instagram,
Facebook, or YouTube, people are encouraged to both con-
sume (watch, read, and listen) content and produce it (write,
record, edit, or otherwise re-appropriate). One key aspect of
participatory social media, Jenkins (2009) argues, is that they
are “spreadable.” Consumers here become “grassroots advo-
cates for materials which are personally and socially meaning-
ful to them” (Jenkins et al., 2009, p. 23). Social media users are
nowadays veritable “prosumers” (Ritzer & Jurgenson, 2010),
radically modifying existing cultural products in their own
Grusauskaite et al.
reconsumption practices. They both contrast this from the pre-
vious hierarchical model of cultural production. Conspiracy
theorists on social media platforms are good examples of such
“prosumers” in today’s participatory online culture: they draw
from a diverse sample of mass media material, recontextualize
accordingly with their “decoding” of the media messages they
offer, and “encode” it with their readings (Aupers, 2020).
The participatory affordances of social media thus
enable conspiracy theorists to construct their own theories
about opaque power in contemporary society. Such theories
are not just texts, but embody various audiovisual materials
that make the invisible, literally visible in self-edited clips.
According to Burgess and Green (2018), YouTube exempli-
fies participatory culture, where ordinary people are invited
to produce and contribute content, appropriating mass
media images, and providing their audiences with their
(oppositional) “readings” (Hall, 1980). Not surprisingly,
then, YouTube is one of the platforms on which conspiracy
media practices are especially prevalent. Despite efforts to
censor and remove content flagged as “disinformation,”
conspiracy videos on YouTube were viewed 3.5 billion
times in 2020 alone (transparency.tube, n.d.), while produc-
ers of deleted channels often come back to the platform
with yet another account and new content. Some have even
called YouTube the “great radicalizer” because its recom-
mendation algorithms lure people deep down the “rabbit
hole” of extremist conspiratorial content (Tufekci, 2018).
While the large-scale quantitative analyses of Ribeiro et al.
(2020) indeed show that people easily shift from moderate
to more extreme content on YouTube, Rebecca Lewis
(2018) goes beyond the radicalizing power of algorithms
alone and shows how political content creators on YouTube
deploy techniques of brand influencers to build audiences
and “sell” them radical ideologies, and “alternative frame-
works for understanding the world” (p. 35). Similarly,
Munger and Phillips (2019) propose a demand and supply
model to argue that YouTube’s affordances facilitate inter-
actions between radical content creators and audiences
“alienated from the mainstream” (p. 25).
Table 1. Conspiracy Video Subjects.
Subject category
1 Media
2 Alternative Media
3 Culture Industry
4 Contemporary Government
5 Geopolitics
6 Deep State and New World Order
7 Secret Societies
8 UFOs and Supernatural
9 Corporations
10 Finance
11 Science
3
The point is that YouTube is now an important media tool
of “conspiracy theorists,” and its specific possibilities to
broadcast self-made audiovisual conspiracy theories shape
and form the theories themselves (cf. Hannan, 2018). Hence,
our research question is, How do conspiracy theorists picture
opaque power on YouTube? In what ways do they “decode”
mass media material and “encode” their oppositional read-
ings in self-constructed videos?
Method, Data, and Analysis
We focus on YouTube because this social media platform is the
perfect exemplar to study participatory (conspiracy) culture
(Burgess & Green, 2018). But what constitutes conspiracy the-
ory videos is far from straightforward since its definition/label is
the product of power relations (Harambam, 2020, pp. 17–19).
Because of its negative connotations, the label is also a strong
rhetorical weapon as well to de-legitimize and exclude certain
people and thoughts from public discussion (Husting & Orr,
2007). To stay sensitive to these political dynamics of labeling,
we use an emic, or a bottom-up, community-informed definition
of conspiracy theory to select our videos. Because YouTube
actively bans videos with conspiratorial content/names, we fol-
lowed what commenters on the discussion board platform Reddit
indicate as conspiracy theory videos/channels on YouTube.
More specifically, from May until August 2020 we scanned the
conspiracy theory subreddit (R/conspiracy) for members’ posts
that included links to YouTube videos and selected the 40 most
mentioned channels. From each of those channels, we selected
the top five most-watched videos, resulting in a sample of 200
videos. The initial dataset is part of a larger project that analyses
conspiracy culture, production, and consumption on YouTube.
All 200 videos were narrated in English.
The first author then watched, analyzed, and coded these
videos for subject matter, amount of views, the producer
channel, year of production, and primary source of footage.
This gave us a general idea of the kind of conspiracy videos,
and the distribution of topics, leading us to identify 11 con-
spiracy video categories (Table 1). To establish the primary
Videos in analysis Videos in total sample
3 5 (2.5%)
1 11 (5.5%)
5 28 (14%)
5 53 (26.5%)
1 9 (4.5%)
1 17 (8.5%)
1 14 (7%)
2 35 (17.5%)
1 3 (1.5%)
1 13 (6.5%)
3 8 (4.0%)
4 Social Media + Society
subject of the video, we posed the question: who, in this
video, is to blame? Many videos combined multiple conspir-
acy theories or spoke about several themes at once. This
method of selecting a subject is based on earlier literature
that sought to characterize/define conspiracy theories
(Harambam, 2020; Knight, 2000).
We then analyzed a smaller sample in full qualitative
detail to be able to answer our research questions. We started
with a video from Categories 1 to 11 and back until we
reached theoretical saturation after having fully analyzed 24
videos. This means that additional videos did not lead to new
insights, but confirmed what was already found (Hennick
et al., 2017). We transcribed and coded all videos along with
their visual, audial, and narrative aspects. Using qualitative
data-analysis software Atlas.ti, and loosely following a
grounded theory approach (cf. Charmaz, 2006; Glaser &
Strauss, 1967), we went through several phases of coding:
first, we openly coded meaningful segments of the video
(visuals, music, editing techniques, and voiceover narrative),
attaching relevant annotations to them. This resulted in a
code-book of 73 codes, ranging from “Pop culture refer-
ences” and “comparisons” to “use of numerology” and
“voiceover instructions.” Second, in a round of axial coding
which is meant to establish relations between codes (Glaser
& Strauss, 1967), we classified the open codes by induc-
tively tying them to each other into specific clusters (e.g.,
“showing evidence,” “connecting dots,” and “proving
points”). Finally, we developed from these clusters three
overarching categories: simulating, deciphering, and exhibit-
ing, which form the backbone of our analysis. After the first
review round, we reanalyzed the videos to find whether we
could find meaningful patterns in the types or combinations
of strategies used across the different videos.
Analysis and Findings
The analysis that follows shows how YouTube conspiracy
theorists use audiovisual strategies to picture opaque powers.
It centers around the techniques used to render an audiovisual
conspiracy theory intelligible, appealing, authentic, and cred-
ible. The analysis yielded three major categories: simulating
(most prevalent, N = 160), deciphering (least prevalent,
N = 74), and exhibiting (second most prevalent, N = 103). The
three audiovisual strategies were used alongside each other in
the videos. Combining all three strategies was the most popu-
lar way of building videos throughout the sample. In addition,
a large portion of the videos used simulating and exhibiting
techniques together. However, no videos used exhibiting and
deciphering techniques exclusively in one video.
Simulating: Visualizing the Invisible
YouTube conspiracy theorists make use of various audiovi-
sual techniques to simulate the conspiracy theory they wish to
convey in their video. These techniques aim at visualizing
what is generally invisible and undocumented: the conspiracy
theory in question. They make such simulations possible by
using pop culture images and references; by using religious
narratives and images; and by editing found stock footage
with actors or situations that are ascribed to the conspiracy
(e.g., politicians, pop stars, and public figures).
First, conspiracy theory video producers deploy various
pop-cultural images, such as Hollywood films, Netflix series,
and animation fragments, to visualize what is hidden or dif-
ficult to conceive to help their viewers imagine the truthful-
ness of the conspiracy theory. This can relate to secret
societies or to phenomena that are not documented by offi-
cial sources, think of the presence of extra-terrestrial life on
earth. The pop-cultural materials are used to activate the
imagination, filling the viewers’ fantasies and giving shape
to aspects of the theory that are otherwise hard to imagine. To
give some telling examples. In this video (Figure 1), the pro-
ducers of the YouTube channel “It’s [Redacted]” tie their
narrative speculating about the existence of extra-terrestrial
life on the earth with segments of the 1993 science fiction
mystery film “A Fire In The Sky” directed by Robert
Lieberman. In the video, we see the film’s poster, featuring a
beam of light illuminating a reclining man’s figure, a com-
mon Hollywood depiction of being abducted by aliens.
Illustrating the producer’s insistence of the film as a truthful
depiction of alien abductions, the voiceover offers: “During
his alleged abduction in 1975, later chronicled in the film
Fire in the Sky, Travis Walton says he saw tall, blond men in
the craft.” (It’s [redacted] 2020). The film’s reference serves
as proof of the existence of UFOs and gives visual shape to
this testimony.
Similarly, a video excerpt from the famous Netflix horror
series Stranger Things is displayed in a video advancing the
existence of psychic powers. This narrator does not interpret or
explain the piece, but this pop culture reference immediately
adds to the comprehension of the suggested conspiracy theory
because of the great popularity of the series and the concrete
image for viewers to rely on. Furthermore, the excerpt is com-
bined with an image of a researcher, which the narrator presents
as “the head of the laboratory of abnormal studies at Princeton
University” (Universe Inside You, 2018) (Figure 2). This re-
contextualizes the image as if the portrayed character is, in fact,
a test subject for such studies. Or at least it aims to simulate so.
In short, using pop-cultural audiovisual references makes
it possible to represent and therefore make present what is
otherwise hidden: they make the invisible visible.
Second, religious narratives and images are put to similar
use, offering ways for the viewer to imagine the conspiracy
theory by simulating its truthful existence. For example, in
this video on Hip Hop and the Illuminati, the religious narra-
tive is used as a building block to simulate a story about pow-
erful elites (Figure 3). With running, images of ancient
tablets and the burning candle still live, reminiscent of dark
religious rituals as popularized in The Da Vinci Code, the
voiceover offers that
Grusauskaite et al. 5

Figure 1. Still from “Spanish Navy Files Disclose Underwater UFOs and ‘Thin, Swedish-Looking’ Beings” by It’s [redacted] (2019).

Figure 2. Still from a video “Psychic Abilities Everyone Can Unlock” by Universe Inside You (2018).

It was in Afghanistan that the Illuminati, meaning the enlightened benevolent and malevolent aspects of planets were given names
ones, was first used to describe a sect which summoned the such as Zeus which is the planet Jupiter, and these names are
Spirits, Angels and Demons. The Mage was employed by the now known in modern as the names of Gods, Angels, and
elites in the ancient world to contact the gods. [. . .] The Demons, (Isaac Weishaupt, 2019)
6 Social Media + Society

Figure 3. Still from “Illuminati and HipHop: Symbolism of the Occult in Rap Music” by Isaac Weishaupt (2019).

Figure 4. Still from video “Masked, Vaxxed and Death” by PeopleOfTheWay.

This historical story-telling with religious analogies is Similarly, a video about vaccinations and the COVID-19
then abruptly cut off and replaced with a video “Illuminati” pandemic (Figure 4) opens with an image of Christ with the
by Prodigy that aired on MTV in 2008. words “people of the way” followed by an image of the bible
Grusauskaite et al.
Figure 5. Still from “Money was created to enslave humanity” by Michael Tellinger.
and the words “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers. . .-Ephesians 6:12”
(Isaac Weishaupt, 2019).
Or in this video (Figure 5), Money was created to enslave
humanity, producer Michael Tellinger tells the story of how
the first elites (religious leaders turned into bankers) came to
dominate the financial system, and how money is since then
used to enslave the rest of humanity. He uses a religious nar-
rative to imagine rebellion to this kind of enslavement. By
using video fragments of the 2004 “The Passion of the
Christ” movie directed by Mel Gibson, blending the con-
vincing lure of Hollywood movies and religious narratives,
the producers provide viewers with his “reading” of this
material, offering that
Jesus [. . .] chased out the bankers or the money changers from
the temple. This was one of the few moments or events of his
life where he probably showed violence or became violent with
other individuals. . . it was with the bankers. (Tellinger, 2020)
This narrative is used as a building block to the story of
money as oppression, and using Jesus Christ not just simu-
lates his historic resistance to financial brokers, but immedi-
ately asks the (rhetorical) question: if such highly praised
biblical figures already rebelled against bankers, then it must
true that our current monetary system was indeed “invented”
to oppress people.
Finally, the bricolage of various found and stock footage
in these videos serves as a method of narrative simulation.
This editing of images comes in many variations and is
7
technically achieved through visual effects, image filters,
collages, and overlays of images, which results in combina-
tions that help build a visual narrative from isolated images.
Here, the most unexpected combinations become possible to
envisage, building a bridge between different aspects of the
theory and making a direct association between the actor
and the subject. Various historical footages (of wars, scien-
tific experiments from the past, government operations, and
historical presidential speeches) are used with ease in combi-
nations with found footage, rendering fact and fiction in an
esthetically convincing visual narrative. These video “col-
lages” typically consist of a primary image that is essential
for the story, and a secondary image that almost unnoticeably
ties the story together. These images are either put one in
front of the other or layered on top of each other with
transparency.
For example, in this video by the Truth Factory (Figure 6),
the narrator offers a story that Donald Trump is a secret time
traveler, who inherited the technologies developed by
Nicolas Tesla and was, therefore, able to predict and win the
US election of 2016, knowing the detrimental consequences
if Hillary Clinton would win. Through the video, images of
actors and events are followed by, or overlaid with, images
of skies, galaxies, and clocks, that provide the portraits of
President D. Trump the intended context or “reading” of the
producer of this video (Figure 6). In this way, the actor of the
story (President Donald Trump) is put into context with sym-
bols of time and space (like clocks and galaxies), rendering
these images visual manifestations of the story. In other
words, the way of editing here becomes a cornerstone of the
8 Social Media + Society

Figure 6. Still from video “Donald Trump Time Travel Theory- Tesla, Barron Trump, Mike Pence and Meme Magic” by The Truth
Factory.

visual narrative, simulating it through the ways the combina-
tions are produced.
In other words, contemporary digital editing technologies
and the YouTube medium affords a playground were sepa-
rate pieces of AV material are recontextualized and turned
into building blocks to visualize the invisible conspiracy
theory. These combinations inspire awe and foster plausibil-
ity since the produced videos go beyond the boundaries of
everyday reality. Such editing techniques make concrete
documentation of events and proof irrelevant as every narra-
tive can be pieced together in a simulation of the conspiracy
theory.
Deciphering: Reading Hidden Symbols and Signs
The second category of audiovisual narrative construction by
which YouTube conspiracy theorists try to demonstrate
opaque powers is “deciphering.” Many of these producers
Grusauskaite et al.
Figure 7. Still from “Why The NPC Meme Triggers NPCs” by The Truth Factory.
believe there are hidden symbols and signs in various media
contents (e.g., songs, ancient art, film fragments, fashion,
and event calendars) that can and should be “decoded” to
find their “true” but obscured meaning. And so they do in full
splendor: in their videos, they decipher media contents and
reconstruct such excerpts in a running conspiracy theory nar-
rative. As such, they aim to reveal what is “hiding behind the
curtain” and visualize what remains hidden to the general
public. They employ three specific techniques to decipher
these hidden symbols: looking for what is not shown or said;
performing “close readings” of images and symbols; and
deploying systems, such as gematria, to decode words, peo-
ple, and events.
First, media contents are deciphered by “listening to the
silences.” These YouTube conspiracy theory producers look
for what is not being said, for the omissions, discrepancies,
and contradictions in media content to find “the real truth.”
For instance, in this video on the problematics of “woke”
identity politics by The Truth Factory (Figure 7), the pro-
ducer “trolls” the “social justice warrior” trope and argues
that mainstream media have a leftist bias, giving a rather
selective picture of what is going on. The narrator contends
that “the left predominantly owns mainstream media includ-
ing the news, Hollywood and social media oligopolies” and
that “despite what the mainstream media wants you to
believe, about eighty percent of the American population
thinks that political correctness is a problem” (The Truth
Factory, 2020). What the media did not tell you is thus a
more truthful depiction than what they convey, but so these
conspiracy theorists hold, “they can’t stop us because we are
9
the makers of memes,” filling their gaps in the hegemonic
media narratives (The Truth Factory, 2020).
This search for what is hidden in media content even
applies to conspiracy media content, as this video about the
widely popular right-wing conspiracy theory Internet show
host Alex Jones of Infowars testifies (Figure 8). The narrator
opens with the question: “Why does Alex Jones refuse to
criticize Israel?” (Know More News, 2017), and he audiovi-
sually builds the argument that it is suspicious that such a
foremost conspiracy celebrity speaks out against many
alleged conspirators, but not those representing Israel. The
video takes the viewer through video clips and voice record-
ings of (what are presented as) former Infowars employees
who present Alex Jones as untrustworthy in various ways.
Having built this image, the video concludes in his voiceover
that “He’s obviously a big fat Zionist shill” (Know More
News, 2017).
In a similar vein, insisting on the meaning of what is not
said or shown applies to images as well. One of such videos
(Figure 9) that “investigates” the “Jewish Kosher Tax,” the
conspiracy theory that products secretly have a hidden
Jewish tax component, is indicated by the letter U, normally
signifying that it is a certified kosher product. This producer
goes through ads in different magazines and journals and
finds that products in certain outlets do not have the “U”
while others do, and that is suspicious. He rhetorically asks,
“why is this, if there’s nothing to hide?” (91177info2, 2010).
Why would the kosher certification symbol not appear in dif-
ferent publications? What does that mean? Concluding that
the symbol is purposefully hidden in publications that do not
10 Social Media + Society

Figure 8. Still from “Infowars Employees Expose Alex Jones” by Know More News.

Figure 9. Still from “Zionist Kosher Tax and the symbols on YOUR food supporting Israel” by 91177info2.

target Jewish populations, to not make the general public
question their contribution to the Jewish tax. Following these
interpretative strategies, such omissions, silences, and absent
spaces direct these producers to a hidden conspiracy that is
audiovisually communicated to their viewers.
Second, the producers of these conspiracy theory videos
decipher media contents by closely reading them. In con-
trast to pointing to what is absent, this strategy focuses on
what is present, but “hidden in plain sight.” Using arrows
and circles, or zooming in on particular features, they
Grusauskaite et al.
Figure 10. Still from “The Reptilian Elite—Conspiracy Theories” by What We Know (2020).
highlight those suspicious aspects in media content and
narrate their conspiratorial reading of those features in a
voiceover. Take Figure 10, this producer argues there is “a
group that has sinister intentions for Earth, lurking in the
shadows of our society” (What We Know, 2020).”
According to the producer, these beings “came from
another world” and “changed our [human] ancestor’s
genetic code.” These are reptilians that came to Earth in
the time of ancient Sumerians, and for that reason, “much
of what we know of them is documented in Sumerian writ-
ings” (What We Know, 2020). The producer highlights
those aspects in Sumerian writings and artifacts (including
the sky and people worshipping gods) that tell the story of
the Arunna (gods in ancient Sumerian) coming down from
the sky, settling on earth, and finally being worshipped as
gods (Annunaki: “gods who live on earth”), hence indicat-
ing the truthfulness of his reptilian conspiracy theory.
In the same way, body gestures of music or movie stars
are interpreted as concealed signs, sending out the “message
that there is an Illuminati that controls the entertainment
industry” (Isaac Weishaupt, 2019). This video showcases a
series of pop stars with their hands up forming triangles out
of their thumb and index fingers: a popular conspiracy read-
ing of Illuminati symbolism, and pop stars’ allegiance to this
notorious secret society (Figure 11).
What all these producers do is highlight the taken-for-
granted and often unnoticed symbols in images that they
assume bear hidden meanings. It is a form of visual semiotics
by which details in images are interpreted in such a way that
points to a conspiracy.
11
Third, conspiracy theorists “decode” hidden messages in
images, texts, or events, using techniques like numerology
and gematria (a Jewish practice in which the letters of the
Hebrew alphabet are substituted with corresponding num-
bers, here often described as the “masonic practice of coding
numbers into words”). The numbers on an actor’s jersey
t-shirt are interpreted as hidden symbols pointing to deeper
meanings with which the “true” narrative of events can be
unveiled. These videos carefully pick apart dates, google sta-
tistics news articles, and interpret the meanings of symbols
and numbers used in them. In this video (Figure 12), Chigoze
Truth explains why the “Universal Music Group is the free-
masons” sacrificing celebrities in masonic rituals.
He explains that
if you follow Gucci Mane’s personal life you’ve gotten this. . .
his mother passed on the 5th of this month and he did not attend
the service. Gucci Mane. . . his upcoming birthday is February
12. He’ll be turning 39 right now he’s 38 right so he was 38
gonna turn 39 in February his mother dies 38 days a span [. . .]
that’s the 39th primum dying 39 days from her son’s birthday for
his career. Do you understand how murder by numbers works?
Murder equals 38, death equals 38, killing equals 38, cancel
equals 38, destroy equals 38
The creator of this video argues that with his numerologi-
cal interpretative strategy, he can “logically break out all
these numbers” to “show you (the viewers) a clear numerical
ritual” (Chigoze Truth, 2019). In this way, he deciphers what
no one else could, namely, the true story behind the cover-up
12 Social Media + Society

Figure 11. Still from video “Illuminati and Hiphop: Symbolism of the Occult in Rap Music” by Isaac Weishaupt (2019).

Figure 12. Still from “Gucci Mane’s Mother was Murdered for His Career by Warner Bros and Universal studios” by Chigoze Truth
(2019).

of Gucci Mane’s death. Mentions of numerology and gema- days of basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter, tak-
tria came back often as “deciphering” the meanings of mys- ing apart the dates, ages, times of the day of events that have
terious events. Another video (Figure 13) analyses the last befallen the celebrity. The producer argues that
Grusauskaite et al.
Figure 13. Still from “Kobe Bryant 41 and daughter Diana 13” by Gematria Effect News (2020).
him dying on the 26; [. . .] they say Kobe’s helicopter crashed
right off the 101 freeway. The first chapter in my book, it’s about
26 and 101, you have to know these numbers to see how often
they are used ritualistically together like this.
He then concludes that his death was intentional and
planned by “the elites” as a masonic rite, which is encoded in
the numbers marking his death (Gematria Effect News, 2020).
Such systems of “deciphering” provide systematic inter-
pretative strategies by which these conspiracy theorists find
“hidden” meanings behind seemingly “random” aspects of
the event, such as a person’s age or the time of day. While the
first two “deciphering” methods, like listening to the silences
and closely reading signs and symbols, are more qualitative
and interpretative in nature, this method of “deciphering”
claims for a quantifiable explanation of events. The “truth” is
hidden here in the numbers that are simply out there.
Exhibiting: Demonstrating the Evidence
The third category of narrative construction in conspiracy
videos we find is “exhibiting.” Besides trying to visualize the
invisible through “simulation,” and “deciphering” secret
meanings in media contents, conspiracy theorists on YouTube
also exhibit the evidence that is already out there and demon-
strate how various public materials point to a conspiracy.
Such producers argue in three distinct ways that “evidence is
hiding in plain sight”: (1) they expose government docu-
ments, scientific findings, footage of scientific experiments,
and other forms of “legitimate knowledge”; (2) they draw
13
from social media testimonies on the Internet and include
screenshots, documents, and video excerpts in their produc-
tions; and (3) they present visual comparisons between the
alleged conspirators and specific media contents that would
highlight similarity (and complicity) between source and tar-
get domain. In this category of picturing opaque powers, the
presented material speaks for itself, it needs no deciphering,
and the evidence is in the open. The producers are merely
here to point us to it.
First, YouTube conspiracy theorists present a variety of
official documents that demonstrate the truthfulness of their
theory. These can be de-classified governmental files, as in
this video on alien life on earth by It’s [redacted] (Figure 14)
where the narrator presents information from governmental
files and edits it with testimonies from ordinary people and
mass media images to construct an account of alien visits on
earth, including descriptions of the physical looks of the
alien species. The governmental documents take the central
stage both visually and in the narrative of the video: pages of
text sliding through the screen, and the voiceover recounting
how they tie into the story of alien species that have been
visiting earth for centuries. The voiceover offers a clear
“reading” of the documents: crucial information that has for
a long time been hidden is now widespread in the open.
But they also use fragments of scientific research find-
ings, and they reference anything from radioactivity (Jesse
Perez Casanova), human psychology (Universe Inside You),
and political science (CorbetReport). In the “Thorium
Conspiracy” video (Figure 15), the producer shows a series
of experiments being carried out and says that
14 Social Media + Society

Figure 14. Still from “Spanish Navy Files Disclose Underwater UFOs and ‘Thin, Swedish-Looking’ Beings” by It’s [redacted].

Figure 15. Still from “Thorium Conspiracy” by “Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know.”

here is where it gets crazy: for decades scientists have argued for
the use of thorium as a power source and though it has made
some progress, uranium fuel source still dominates the market!
The big question is this, would it possible that some organizations
have purposefully suppressed the technology?
Or take this video on 5G and electromagnetic radiation by
Jesse Perez Casanova who showcases MRI research scans of
the human brain (Figure 16). He urges his listeners to look at
the scientific image while he offers his interpretation: “Here’s
a diagram of microwave absorption by the brain.” As you can
Grusauskaite et al.
Figure 16. Still from “5G Radiation Exploration” by Jesse Perez Casanova (2020).
see, this is not good for kids and not good for adults. The real
question is if wireless technology is safe, why can so many
people not live near wireless technologies? The major reason
is that our bodies are electric. [. . .] If you think that living in
an environment with microwave radiation is safe for you and
is good for your body, well, that is simply not true (Jesse
Perez Casanova, 2020). Here, Casanova uses the visual
exposition of brain research and MRI scans as a building
block for his conspiracy video. Like the others in this sec-
tion, these video producers draw on scientific research and
government documents as “legitimate knowledge” to
increase the plausibility of their alternative theories.
Second, social media posts from politicians, investigators,
journalists, “citizen journalists,” and ordinary people are
selected as testimonies and presented as “evidence” in their
videos. For instance, the producer of the channel Know More
News, discussed in the “Deciphering” section, goes through
several social media posts to portray Alex Jones as a “traitor”
(Figure 17). After reading out the contents of the post, he
says: “a guy who worked with Alex for over 2 years is calling
him a ‘duplicitous liar’,” and “his audience is thumb-sucking
cult members,” before switching to yet another post about
Alex Jones. The social media informant is presented here as
a reliable source of judgment and information.
Similarly, a video on President Donald Trump (Figure 18)
uses his Twitter account as a resource in a narrative on the
struggle between him and candidate Hillary Clinton. The
“Truth Cat” (as the producer coins herself) presents it as evi-
dence of the completion of Trump’s race through time to win
the presidency and stop the “Clinton regime.”
15
Another video (Figure 19), subtly titled “Masked, Vaxxed
and Death” (PeopleOfTheWay, 2020), presents messages of
followers received over social media as evidence. In the nar-
rative over the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as a tool of mass con-
trol, he shows a screenshot of a message from a fan that owns
a carton business and says that “the government has given
them a major contract to produce these cardboard disaster
caskets [. . .] thousands upon thousands [. . .] Now we can see
what the government is preparing and planning for [. . .] you
guys really need to be prepared.”
Public social media posts and private messages from peo-
ple in the social networks of these conspiracy video produc-
ers are advanced as important proofs. The people behind
those posts are seen as authoritative whistleblowers that have
information from the inside and need no further (suspicious)
inspection. Rather interestingly, these informal messages are
put on par with official documents, rendering their legiti-
macy as evidence almost indistinguishable.
A third way in which conspiracy theorists “exhibit” evi-
dence in YouTube videos is through visual comparison. This
implies two or more different images being presented
together to show their similarities or connection as proof of
conspiracy. Ever doubted Hillary Clinton had Reptilian fea-
tures? Or that Barron Trump was a time traveler? According
to the following videos, the similarities between them and
their visual proofs are just too uncanny to ignore. In one
such video about reptilian elites covertly ruling the world
(Figure 20), Hillary Clinton is presented as a lizard-human
hybrid that traveled to earth thousands of years ago and
masquerades as humans to control the earth behind the
16 Social Media + Society

Figure 17. Still from “Infowars Employees Expose Alex Jones” by Know More News.

Figure 18. Still from “Donald Trump Time Travel Theory- Tesla, Barron Trump, Mike Pence and Meme Magic” by The Truth Factory.

curtains. The video then presents a side-to-side comparison In much the same way, a video on Donald Trump and time
of various images of features of reptilians and Hillary travel (Figure 21) shows a side-by-side comparison of
Clinton and, in this way, urges the viewer to find the simi- Donald Trump’s son Barron and the main character with the
larities between these images. same name of Ingersoll Lockwood’s book from 1890. The
Grusauskaite et al. 17

Figure 19. A still from “Masked, Vaxxed and Death” by PeopleOfTheWay.

Figure 20. Still from “The Reptilian Elite—Conspiracy Theories” by What We Know.

existence of this novel and the clear resemblance of the char-
acter with Trump’s son is advanced as proof of his theory.
Visual comparisons provide conspiratorial narratives with
intuitive proofs: no belief or trust is required, it is all a matter
of seeing what is simply out there.
Conclusion and Discussion
The theoretical point of departure of this study was the soci-
ological assumption that conspiracy theories function as
“cognitive maps” representing social systems that have
18
Figure 21. Still from video “Donald Trump Time Travel Theory- Tesla, Barron Trump, Mike Pence and Meme Magic” by The Truth
Factory.
become too complex to represent (Jameson, 1991, p. 38)
and hence, as meaningful and explanatory meta-narratives,
they make sense of opaque power (Boltanski, 2014, pp. xv–
xvi; e.g., Knight, 2000; Melley, 2000). Such sociological
theories explain much of the appeal of conspiracy theories,
but are overly general, functionalist, and based on conspir-
acy theories in mass media texts—fiction, literature, film—
that do not capture conspiracy theorizing as a verb—as a
dynamic, active and “never-ending” interpretative practice
(Fenster, 1999, p. 107) that is afforded by social media.
Studying conspiracy theorizing as a (social) media practice,
we focused particularly on YouTube—not only because the
platform is brimming with self-made conspiracy theories,
but because it exemplifies a shift from conspiracy theories
as written text to the audiovisual. The key question was how
conspiracy theorists picture opaque power on YouTube and,
particularly, how they “decode” mass media material and
“encode” their oppositional readings in self-constructed
videos.
Grounded in an in-depth qualitative analysis of 24 con-
spiracy YouTube videos, we can first of all conclude that
conspiracy theorizing on YouTube can be found in countless
forms and varieties. Particularly since the “real” figuration of
“power” is allegedly hidden, opaque, and actively cover-up
by the “power elite,” conspiracy theorists are trying to make
the hidden “truth” visible by using the audiovisual affor-
dances of the YouTube platform. They creatively decode
mass-media material—from televised news items, inter-
views, and performances to fiction in film, series, and
Social Media + Society
animations—recontextualize their meanings and, in doing
so, construct oppositional readings and alternative meanings.
In our analysis, we distinguished three ideal-typical audiovi-
sual strategies to represent the opaque power: (1)
“Simulating,” (2) “Deciphering,” and (3) “Exhibiting.”
We conceptualized the first strategy as “simulating” since
the video instrumentally uses and edits images derived from
fiction, animations, popular culture, and religious images to
construct a narrative and convince the viewer to visualize the
invisible political power. The audiovisual material presented
in these videos may be too easily understood as fictitious, a
simulation, or even a “hyper-reality”—a model of “a real
without origin or reality” (Baudrillard, 1994, p. 1). A more
adequate concept to capture this strategy of using simulation
to tell the “real truth” is what Barkun calls “fact-fiction
reversal” (2006). This is the paradox: given the hidden and
horrible nature of the Truth, only fiction can be used as a
language to describe and represent it. More than that: the
underlying assumption of this strategy seems that the “real
truth” is, in fact, more outlandish, surreal, and frightening
than what we see and read in fiction. The second category,
“deciphering,” refers to the way conspiracy theorists on
YouTube “uncover the secret meanings” of mass media
material by “close reading” such texts and interpreting their
signs and symbols. In contrast with the strategy of “simulat-
ing,” it is assumed in this strategy that the Truth can be dis-
covered in the mainstream text itself. The mainstream
“meaning”—intentionally constructed by the power elite and
infused with their oppressive, hegemonic ideology—is here
Grusauskaite et al.
actively “decoded” by the producers of these videos.
Motivated by the adage “nothing is what it seems” or, more
precisely “nothing that you see or hear is real,” conspiracy
theorists analyze every meticulous detail in audiovisual texts
to render—piece by piece—their “oppositional reading”
(Hall, 1980). They point out what MMS or actors within the
conspiracy are “refusing” to say or look at what is not shown/
said and draw attention to hidden symbols and signs in lyrics,
video clips, gestures, and public performances and connect
these rhetorically to bigger narratives about history and con-
spiracy theories about power. Images are never “just
images”—they allegedly have deeper symbolic meaning,
ideological connotations whereas conspiracy theorists
develop complex intertextual references to other sources.
Such “deciphering” in YouTube videos, then, can therefore
be understood as a form of “pop-semiotics” (Aupers, 2020).
The third and final category we theorize is “exhibiting,” or
audio-visually portraying “evidence” that is allegedly “out in
the open.” In contrast to a person “deciphering” texts, the
conspiracy theorist in this scenario takes on more the role of
a (citizen) journalist or (amateur) scientist showing or exhib-
iting empirical evidence. We distinguished three main ways
in which “exhibiting” was carried out. First, by showing gov-
ernment documents, scientific findings, and footage of scien-
tific experiments, conspiracy theorists draw from a pool of
“legitimate knowledge” to render their theory plausible.
Second, they rely on social media testimonies as trustworthy
“whistle-blowing” accounts and expose these visually in
their videos. Third, they provide visual comparisons of
images, similarities of which are presented as hard “evi-
dence” of a conspiracy.
These three categories map out the strategies conspiracy
theorists use to construct their narratives on YouTube and,
particularly, provide insight into how they make invisible
power visible using audio-visual techniques. Our research
has important implications for further research. First of all,
we encourage more studies on the audiovisual representation
of conspiracy theories in general and on the Internet particu-
larly. Most studies are still dominated by a “textual gaze”
(Meyer, 2015)—a focus on mass-mediated written texts and
documents—and this blinkers the fact that “the visual culture
of conspiracy theory is an essential device for its transmis-
sion” (Caumanns & Önnerfors, 2020, p. 453). Indeed, there
are some medium effect studies (e.g., Newman et al., 2012)
indicating that a statement is more likely to be perceived as
“true” or “real” if combined with an image. What, then, is the
appeal of conspiracy videos online in comparison with writ-
ten (mass-mediated) texts? And related to the findings of our
study: how do audiences on the Internet decode conspiracy
videos on YouTube and, particularly, the three audiovisual
strategies distinguished in our analysis?
The latter question opens up new, important theoretical
issues about the applicability of the encoding/decoding
model of Stuart Hall for Internet studies. On the one hand,
19
our study demonstrates the persistent value of this classical
model in analyzing the production of conspiracy texts—the
way their makers actively “decode” hegemonic mass media
material and “encode” their critical, oppositional, and coun-
ter-hegemonic reading in self-constructed YouTube videos.
The theoretical significance lies in the reversal of the model
of Stuart Hall: in a “participatory culture” afforded by the
Internet (Jenkins, 2012), the encoding/decoding model rather
becomes a decoding/encoding model. On the other hand,
however, we see the limitations of our analysis: this empiri-
cal study is only a static snap-shot in a never-ending process
of decoding and encoding—one shackle in a chain of online
hermeneutic events—in which different audiences continu-
ously rethink, debate, modify, remix, and remake conspiracy
videos on the Internet (Stano, 2020). This may be referred to
as “going viral” or “rhizomatic” (Jenkins, 2012) but such
metaphors derived from nature overemphasize the chaotic,
uncontrollable, untraceable character of User Generated
Content. A challenge for future research is, then, to empiri-
cally study the online contexts of “oppositional” conspiracy
videos on YouTube (how they are decoded in comment sec-
tions and online debates) and, ultimately, assess in a longitu-
dinal study how they travel, diffuse and transform in the
process.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support
for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Fonds
Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Research Foundation- Flanders).
ORCID iD
Kamile Grusauskaite https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1675-7051
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Causes and cures. Journal of Political Philosophy, 17, 202–
227. https:/doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00325.x
Tellinger, M. (2020, March 25) “Money was created to enslave
humanity” [video] YouTube. Available from https://www.you-
tube.com/watch?v=nS6lpN0V5l
The Truth Factory (2020, October 23) “Why The NPC Meme
Triggers NPCs”. [video] YouTube. Available from https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TH7MUQ3cfA
transparency.tube. (n.d.). Conspiracy, Transparency Tube. https://
transparency.tube/?openGroup=Conspiracy
Tufekci, Z. (2018, March 10). YouTube, the great radicalizer. The
New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/opin-
ion/sunday/youtube-politics-radical.html
Vosoughi, S., Roy, D., & Aral, S. (2018). The spread of true and
false news online. Science, 359(6380), 1146–1151. https://doi.
org/10.1126/science.aap9559
Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information disorder:
Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and
policy making. Council of Europe. https://edoc.coe.int/en/
21
media/7495-information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplin-
ary-framework-for-research-and-policy-making.html
What We Know (2020, May 29) “The Reptilian Elite—Conspiracy
Theories” . [video]. YouTube. Available from https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=Y0T_3W_x6mA
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Author Biographies
Kamile Grusauskaite (MSc, Erasmus University Rotterdam) is a
PhD candidate at the Institute for Media Studies at KU Leuven
University. Her research deals with conspiracy theories, “post-
truth,” social media, and Internet cultures.
Jaron Harambam (PhD) is Assistant Professor of Participatory AI at
the Athena Institute of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The
Netherlands. His research deals with conspiracy theories, news and
platform politics, and AI (content moderation, search/recommender
systems).
Stef Aupers (PhD) is a full professor of media culture at the
Institute for Media Studies at KU Leuven. His research deals
with the transformation and mediatization of Western culture; he
published widely in international journals on topics like digital
religion, online game culture, and conspiracy theories on the
Internet.
Appendix. List of Videos and Categories.
22

Video Channel Topic Views Methods (by order of dominance) Combinations/Transitions

“Psychic Abilities Everyone Can Unlock” Universe Inside You Supernatural 1,729,855 Simulating Simulating: pop culture + Exhibiting: use of science (3)
Exhibiting Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: use of science (2)
Simulating: religious narratives + Exhibiting: use of science (1)
Simulating: Pop culture + Exhibiting: testimonies (1)
Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: testimonies (1)
“Illuminati and HipHop: Symbolism of the Occult Isaac Weishaupt Culture Industry 21,908 Simulating Simulating: Pop Culture + Deciphering: close reading (4)
in Rap Music” Deciphering Simulating: pop culture + Exhibiting: testimonies (3)
Exhibiting Exhibiting: Visual comparison + Deciphering: close reading (2)
“Masked, Vaxxed and Death” PeopleOfTheWay Science 2,653 Exhibiting Deciphering: close reading + Exhibiting: Testimonies (3)
Deciphering
“Donald Trump Time Travel Theory- Tesla, Barron The Truth Factory Contemporary 325,378 Simulating Exhibiting: testimonies + Simulating: pop culture (3)
Trump, Mike Pence and Meme Magic” government Exhibiting Exhibiting: comparisons + Simulating: pop culture (2)
Exhibiting: use of science + Simulating: pop culture (1)
Exhibiting: use of science + Simulating: bricolage (1)
‘Money was created to enslave humanity’ Michael Tellinger Finance 4,047 Simulating Simulating: bricolage + simulating: religious narratives (3)
Exhibiting Exhibiting: visual comparisons + Simulating: religious narratives (2)
“Why The NPC Meme Triggers NPCs” The Truth Factory Media 652,814 Simulating Exhibiting: use of science/doc + Simulating: pop culture (4)
Exhibiting Simulating: bricolage + Simulating: pop culture (4)
“Infowars Employees Expose Alex Jones” Know More News (Alternative) 424,268 Exhibiting Exhibiting: testimonies + Simulating: bricolage (4)
media Simulating Simulating: pop culture + Exhibiting: testimonies (2)
Exhibiting: testimonies + Exhibiting: gov. doc (2)
“Zionist Kosher Tax and the symbols on YOUR 91177info2 Geopolitics 113,623 Deciphering Exhibiting: gov. doc/science + deciphering: close reading (4)
food supporting Israel” Simulating Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: gov. doc/science (2)
Exhibiting Deciphering: listening to the silences + Exhibiting: visual comparison (1)
Deciphering: close reading + deciphering: listening to the silences (1)
“The Reptilian Elite—Conspiracy Theories” What We Know Deep State & 8,922 Simulating Simulating: bricolage + Simulating: religious narratives (5)
New World Exhibiting Exhibiting: visual comparison + Simulating: bricolage (2)
Order Deciphering Deciphering: close reading + Simulating: religious narratives (1)
Exhibiting: visual comparison + Simulating: religious narratives (1)
Exhibiting: testimonies + Simulation: bricolage + Simulation: pop culture (1)
Simulating: pop culture + Exhibiting: Testimonies (1)
“Kobe Bryant 41 and daughter Diana 13” Gematria Effect Culture Industry 29,868 Deciphering Deciphering: Close reading + Deciphering: listening to the silences (5)
News Simulating Deciphering: Gematria/Numerology + Deciphering: listening to the silences (4)
Simulating: religious narratives + Gematria/Numerology (3)
Simulating: religious narratives + Deciphering: close reading (2)
“Spanish Navy Files Disclose Underwater UFOs and It’s [redacted] UFO’s 15,896 Simulating Deciphering: close reading + Exhibiting: use of science (3)
‘Thin, Swedish-Looking’ Beings” Exhibiting Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: testimonies (3)
Deciphering Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: use of science (2)
“Thorium Conspiracy” Stuff They Don’t Contemporary 1,606,034 Exhibiting Exhibiting: use of science + Simulating: bricolage (5)
Want You To Know Government Simulating
“5G Radiation Exploration” Jesse Perez Casanova Science 1,551 Exhibiting Exhibiting: Science + Deciphering: Close reading (5)
Deciphering Exhibiting: testimonies + Simulating: Bricolage (4)
Simulating Exhibiting: visual comparisons + Exhibiting: use of science (2)
Exhibiting: Science + Deciphering: listening to the silences (1)
“Gucci Mane’s Mother was Murdered for His Gematria Effect Culture Industry 15,962 Deciphering Deciphering: gematria + Simulating: religious narratives (2)
Career by Warner Bros. and Universal studios” News Simulating Deciphering: gematria + Simulating: pop culture references (2)
Deciphering: close reading + Deciphering: gematria (1)
“9/11: A Conspiracy Theory” corbettreport Contemporary 3,315,416 Deciphering Exhibiting: gov. documents + Deciphering: listening to the silences (2)
Government Simulating Deciphering: listening to the silences + Simulating: pop culture (2)
Exhibiting Deciphering: listening to the silences + Simulating: bricolage (2)
Deciphering: listening to the silences + Exhibiting: testimonies (1)
Deciphering: close reading + Deciphering: Listening to the silences (1)
“QAnon Project Looking Glass It all makes sense!” Ir0nbelly Contemporary 197,524 Exhibiting Exhibiting: Testimonies = Simulating: bricolage (4)
Government Simulating Simulating: bricolage + Deciphering: listening to the silences (2)
Deciphering
“What else does Seth MacFarlane know? Family Jay Myers Culture Industry 2,301,526 Simulating Simulating: pop culture references + Exhibiting: Use of science/ official documents (3)
Guy Predictions” Documentaries Exhibiting Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: Use of science/ official documents (2)
Deciphering Deciphering: Listening to the silences + Simulating: pop culture references (1)
Simulating: pop culture references + Simulating: religious narratives (1)
“Be warned of Digital Deception;)” 91177info Media 134,538 Exhibiting Exhibiting: Visual Comparisons + Simulating: Bricolage (6)
Social Media + Society

Simulating

(Continued)
 Grusauskaite et al.

Appendix. (Continued)
Video Channel Topic Views Methods (by order of dominance) Combinations/Transitions

“Hypothetical Experiment” John le Bron Science 7,708 Deciphering Deciphering: Listening to the silences + Simulating: Bricolage (5)
Simulating Exhibiting: use of science + Deciphering: listening to the silences (3)
Exhibiting Deciphering: Listening to the silences + Simulating: religious narratives (1)
Deciphering: Listening to the silences + Deciphering: close reading (1)
“EXPOSED The Elite Torture Children & Drink Third Eye Open Deep State & 17,247 Simulating Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: testimonies (3)
Their Adrenalised Blood called Adrenochrome.” New World Deciphering Simulating: Bricolage + Exhibiting: use of government documents (2)
Order Exhibiting Deciphering: listening to the silences + Exhibiting: use of government documents (1)
Deciphering: close reading + Deciphering: Listening to the silences (1)
Exhibiting: testimonies + Exhibiting: Use of government documents (1)
“American Pravda: CNN Producer Says Russia Project Veritas Media 2,915,400 Deciphering Simulating: Bricolage + Deciphering: Listening to the Silences (4)
Narrative ‘bullsh*t’” Simulating Deciphering: listening to the silences + Deciphering: close reading (2)
Exhibiting Simulating: Bricolage + Exhibiting: Testimonies (3)
Exhibiting: Testimonies + Deciphering: Listening to the silences (1)
Simulating: Bricolage + Exhibiting: Use of Statistics (1)
“Why coronavirus has me very scared” John le Bron Corporations 9,422 Deciphering Exhibiting: news reports + Deciphering: listening to the silences (1)
(Big Pharma) Exhibiting Deciphering: listening to the silences + Simulating: religious narratives (1)
Simulating
News—What just happened? TYT, Jordan Ebon Kim Culture Industry 9,331 Exhibiting Exhibiting: Testimonies + Simulating: bricolage (3)
Chariton, H.A. Goodman, and Tim Black Simulating
Anonymous—The TRUTH about Donald Trump Anonymous Contemporary 3,602,028 Exhibiting Simulating: bricolage + Exhibiting: official documents (8)
Government Deciphering Deciphering: listening to the silences + Exhibiting: official documents (2)
Simulating Exhibiting: testimonies + Deciphering: close reading (2)
23