Conspiracy Narratives on Voat: A Longitudinal Analysis of Cognitive Activation and Evolutionary Psychology Features

Understanding defining features of conspiracy narratives presents a significant challenge. Existing research predominantly focuses on online platforms as alternative information sources, overlooking the self-reinforcing dynamics influencing content creators. This study addresses this gap by investigating the role of prior cognitive activation, specifically users' engagement with conspiracy cues, in facilitating cognitive accessibility to such content. Central to our inquiry is the concept of activation burden, which refers to the cognitive effort required for individuals to engage with conspiracy narratives. We explore how features derived from evolutionary psychology, such as pattern recognition, detecting groups, or threat management, may contribute to the lowering of this activation burden, thereby fostering continued engagement with conspiratorial content.