#online-behavior — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #online-behavior, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: August 29, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: The tendency of conspiracy theorists to police others online is associated with narcissistic traits
People who heavily endorse conspiracy theories often take on the role of online “social vigilantes,” seeking to correct the perceived ignorance of others. New research suggests that this tendency to act as self-appointed enforcers of truth online is largely driven by feelings of superiority and a desire for self-enhancement. The findings were published in Personality and Individual Differences.
Conspiracy theories often provide people with a dual sense of identity. Believers tend to view themselves as part of a privileged minority that has uncovered hidden truths, while also casting themselves as heroic underdogs fighting against powerful forces. Earlier research established that believing in conspiracy theories is closely tied to narcissism and feelings of intellectual superiority.
For instance, a review covered by PsyPost in 2024 found that one of the strongest personality traits linked to conspiracy beliefs is a tendency to act antagonistic and superior to others. Along similar lines, a 2022 review indicated that narcissistic desires to feel special and dominant make conspiracy narratives especially appealing, as they allow believers to feel uniquely insightful.
This prior research set the stage for a new question. Does this sense of superiority motivate conspiracy theorists to actively police and attack others on the internet? The research, led by Achilleas Piliousis, a PhD candidate in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, investigated how and why people transform their private conspiracy beliefs into aggressive online behavior.
“The idea for this research originated from an observation that had intrigued me for several years, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Piliousis said. “I noticed that some people who endorsed conspiracy beliefs—for example, about vaccines or climate change—did not simply express their views. They would also attack, disparage, or publicly shame those who disagreed with them, while portraying themselves as people who had ‘seen the truth’ and dismissing others as ‘sheep’ or ‘asleep’.”
“This led me to wonder whether conspiracy thinking might sometimes be associated with such online behaviors through social vigilantism, that is, the belief that one possesses superior knowledge or insight while simultaneously feeling a responsibility to expose, correct, or even police those perceived as ignorant or misinformed,” Piliousis explained.
To explore this idea, the researchers conducted three separate studies. The first study included 139 Greek adults and measured their general conspiracy thinking along with their belief in specific conspiracy theories about climate change and cancer. The participants also completed surveys measuring their levels of social vigilantism, dogmatism, intellectual humility, and narcissism. Piliousis and his colleagues found a moderate positive association between all the conspiracy variables and social vigilantism. Even when accounting for general arrogance, stubbornness, and close-mindedness, holding conspiracy beliefs remained a strong predictor of wanting to aggressively correct others.
The second study tested whether these vigilante tendencies actually translate into confrontational online habits. The research team surveyed 116 Greek participants, asking them about their beliefs in climate change conspiracy theories and their daily online behaviors. This included their willingness to argue online, their intent to participate in online shaming, and how they would comment on hypothetical Facebook posts about climate change.
One post featured factual information, while the other featured misinformation. The results indicated that climate change conspiracy beliefs indirectly predicted both a willingness to argue online and a desire to participate in online shaming, suggesting that the drive to act as a norm enforcer pushes believers toward aggressive digital habits.
“One key takeaway is that conspiracy thinking seems to be more than simply believing in particular conspiracy theories,” Piliousis noted. “When it becomes a broader lens through which people interpret the social world, it may shape how individuals perceive themselves and others.”
To see if these patterns held up in a different cultural context, the researchers conducted a third study with 188 participants from the United States. In this round, the team focused on general conspiracy thinking and asked participants about their actual frequency of getting into conflicts on social media over the past twelve months. They also wanted to see if specific types of narcissism were driving this behavior. As a result, they measured two distinct aspects of grandiose narcissism: narcissistic admiration, which is the desire to be seen as a great personality, and narcissistic rivalry, which involves an antagonistic desire to see others fail.
The findings from the American sample mirrored the earlier results. Conspiracy thinking indirectly predicted online argumentation, shaming intentions, and actual social media conflict, again acting through the channel of social vigilantism. Interestingly, when the researchers factored in narcissistic admiration, the statistical link between conspiracy thinking and social vigilantism weakened substantially.
“One finding that I found particularly interesting was the role of the agentic facet of narcissism, particularly narcissistic admiration,” Piliousis said. “Our findings suggest that self-enhancement motives may play an important role in these relationships.” Rather than acting as selfless heroes trying to save an unwitting public from danger, conspiracy theorists might engage in online enforcement largely to serve their own egos.
As Piliousis explained, “the adoption of a social vigilante role among conspiracy theorists may partly reflect self-focused motives, such as self-enhancement, self-affirmation, and the pursuit of status.”
The authors noted a few limitations in their work. “The nature of our data does not allow us to establish causal relationships,” Piliousis said. “Our findings indicate associations between the variables, but they cannot tell us what causes what. For this reason, longitudinal studies are needed to examine the direction of these relationships and provide stronger evidence for our theoretical proposal.”
The studies also relied heavily on self-reported intentions rather than directly observing how participants behaved on social media platforms. People might claim they would engage in online shaming, but they may not always follow through in a real-world setting. Future research could look at real comment sections and public conflicts to see how these dynamics play out in everyday life.
It is also an open question how the confrontational style of these social vigilantes affects passive observers on the internet. A highly aggressive approach to spreading conspiracy theories might make the ideas seem more visible and widespread, or it might backfire and push people away by coming across as overly hostile.
The study, “Conspiracy thinking and online surveillance: The rise of the “social vigilante”,” was authored by Achilleas Piliousis and Antonis Gardikiotis.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ConspiracyTheories #SocialVigilantism #Narcissism #OnlineEnforcement #OnlineBehavior #DigitalConflict #ClimateChangeConspiracy #VeracityWars #SelfEnhancement #PsychologyResearch
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The Internet Gave Everyone a Voice, Unfortunately
I’ve got to tell you, the internet is something else, isn’t it? I mean, think about it, we have this incredible tool, this global network that connects us all, that allows us to share information and communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time. It’s like the ultimate democracy of ideas, right? Everyone gets a voice! Oh, what a beautiful dream!
Oh, but wait! It turns out, maybe not everyone should have a voice? Maybe, just maybe, some opinions are better kept to yourself? I know, I know, it’s a controversial take. But hear me out!
Before the internet, if you had a terrible opinion, you had to keep it within your family. Maybe ruin Christmas dinner. Now you can ruin somebody’s morning in another country before breakfast! And don’t get me started on the comments sections. Have you seen the comments sections? It’s like the wild west out there. No rules, no consequences, just an endless stream of unfiltered nonsense.
And what’s with all these people who start every post with ‘Nobody asked, but…’ or ‘I wasn’t going to speak about this, but…’? Buddy, if nobody asked and you weren’t going to speak about it, then DON’T! Nobody’s twisting your arm here. But no, they’ve got to share their unsolicited hot take on whatever topic is trending that day. And God forbid you disagree with them, they’ll be at your doorstep, ready for a duel at dawn.
What about online trolls? “Hey, you know what really grinds my gears? When people don’t like my opinion on the internet. No, seriously, that’s like the number one crime in the online world. Say something controversial, and suddenly you’re Public Enemy Number One. It’s like, relax, bro. It’s just the internet. Nobody cares.
And don’t even get me started on the experts. Oh, they’re everywhere. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a smartphone and an opinion now thinks they’re an expert on everything from politics to climate change to quantum physics. Newsflash: just because you watched a few YouTube videos doesn’t make you a expert. Trust me, I know from experience. I once tried to explain string theory to my cat using nothing but a laser pointer and some catnip. Did not go well.
But the real kicker is when these so called experts start giving unsolicited advice online. Oh, you’re a doctor? Well, here’s what I think you should do: shut up and treat your patients. Same goes for pilots, chefs, teachers, you name it. Every profession now has millions of unpaid online supervisors ready to tell them how to do their jobs better. It’s like having a bunch of drunk monkeys in the cockpit, all screaming different directions.
And don’t forget about the influencers… they’re the worst. Oh, they’ve got it all figured out. They’re going to ‘speak their truth’ and ‘inspire’ us all with their ‘authentic’ content. But let’s be real, they’re just a bunch of attention seeking narcissists with a camera and a dream. And don’t even get me started on their ‘spontaneous’ videos, the ones where they’re crying in their car about something that happened to them that we’re all supposed to care about. Please. If you’re filming it, it’s not spontaneous. It’s not real. It’s just another piece of content to feed the algorithm.
But you know what really gets me? It’s the ones who overshare. The ones who post every single detail of their lives online, their arguments, their moods, their meals, their entire lives on display for the world to see. It’s like they’re begging for validation, for someone, anyone, to pay attention to them. But here’s the thing, they’re not sharing. They’re performing. And nobody asked for their performance.
The internet promised us a revolution, a democratization of knowledge and ideas. But instead, we got an endless stream of opinions from people who shouldn’t have them. We got a platform for every idiot with a smartphone and a dream of being heard. We got the voice of the people, but not necessarily the best voice, the loudest one.
So here’s my advice, next time you’re about to post something online, next time you’re about to share your unsolicited opinion with the world, ask yourself: does anyone actually care? Do you even know what you’re talking about? Is this going to make the world a better place? Because if not, then maybe just…don’t. Maybe just keep it to yourself.
Because at the end of the day, the internet gave everyone a voice. But it forgot to install a filter. And that’s the real tragedy of our time.
#2026 #Blog #blogging #Comedy #commentSections #digitalSociety #Dsojin #fakeExperts #fiction #freedomOfSpeech #Instagram #InstagramReels #internetComedy #internetCulture #life #lifestyle #Love #modernSociety #observationalComedy #onlineArguments #onlineBehavior #onlineOpinions #podcastCulture #reading #sarcasm #satire #smartphoneCulture #SocialMedia #socialMediaHumor #socialMediaSatire #Story #theInternetGaveEveryoneAVoice #US #Writing -
Toxicity on Social Media – The Noisy Room
#HackerNews #toxicity #socialmedia #onlinebehavior #noisyroom #digitalwellbeing
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This episode of the Andrew Oram series "What Everybody Knows About You" explains how some churches collect people’s data.
Read it here: https://lpi.org/7bx9
[Disclaimer: This post contains an image created with the assistance of AI.]
#LPI #dataprivacy #digitaltracking #churchtech #onlinebehavior #mentalhealth #churchdata #church
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Ah, yes, a riveting read on how people choose to like things in secret, because who doesn't want to risk their precious online rep for a digital thumbs-up? 🤔✨ Spoiler alert: It involves social networks, reputational anxiety, and enough academic jargon to make your eyes glaze over. 🚀📚
https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.11140 #socialnetworks #reputationalanxiety #academicjargon #digitalthumbsup #onlinebehavior #HackerNews #ngated -
Why do we behave differently online than we would in person? There are different theories about this, from SIDE to the theory of possible selves, we have explored what the experts think.
#psychology #cyberpsychology #onlineBehavior #anonymity
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/ -
Why do we behave differently online than we would in person? There are different theories about this, from SIDE to the theory of possible selves, we have explored what the experts think.
#psychology #cyberpsychology #onlineBehavior #anonymity
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/ -
Why do we behave differently online than we would in person? There are different theories about this, from SIDE to the theory of possible selves, we have explored what the experts think.
#psychology #cyberpsychology #onlineBehavior #anonymity
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/ -
Wanna bet? Scammers are playing the odds better than you are https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/11/13/cybercrime-online-betting-scams/ #onlinebehavior #cybercrime #Don'tmiss #threats #scams #News
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Why do we behave differently online than we would in person? There are different theories about this, from SIDE to the theory of possible selves, we have explored what the experts think.
#psychology #cyberpsychology #onlineBehavior #anonymity
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/
https://negativepid.blog/why-do-we-behave-differently-online/ -
People who have never mentioned Charlie Kirk are being wrongfully targeted online and doxxed. @taylorlorenz reports on two such cases. Ali Nasrati discovered, after receiving a barrage of abuse and death threats and being suspended from work, that an X account started in May was using his name and a photo stolen from his social media. Cynthia Rehberg, a school principal in Wisconsin, was misidentified by a conservative influencer from a Facebook post, after which her district received 800 voicemails calling for her firing. "Over 200,000 people think that I'm somebody that I'm not," Nastrati told Lorenz, referring to the number of views one of the X posts attacking him received. "I don't know if anybody's following me. I don't feel safe going into public areas. I don't know who's there. I don't know who is going to be able to recognize me or not, or who might do something. I'm constantly looking behind my back."
#News #Journalism #Media #CharlieKirk #OnlineBehavior #Doxxing
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Why some people share conspiracy theories they don’t even believe https://www.psypost.org/why-some-people-share-conspiracy-theories-they-dont-even-believe/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #ConspiracyTheories #Research #OnlineBehavior #Psychology #FakeNews
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The devolution of social media and the rise of bizarre behavior to defeat the algorithm -- here's how it works.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thofk/p/the-pigeon-dance
#Writing #Nonfiction #Rant #OnlineBehavior #LiteralChaos #FreeOnSubstack #WritingCommunity #WritersCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #WritersOnmastodon