Researchers Blame YouTube For Flat Earth Theorists

YouTube To Blame For Flat Earth Theorists

Before I continue, just in case you haven’t come across the Flat Earth theory to date, let me give you a brief rundown as to what it is. Put simply, some people appear to be entirely convinced that despite all evidence to the contrary, planet Earth is flat. Nope, not round… flat! In basic terms, if you went too far in a single direction, you’d eventually fall off.

While this is certainly one of the weirdest popular conspiracy theories around, a research group has come to an interesting conclusion. They believe that practically everyone who shows a belief in this theory has likely taken it from YouTube videos.

Starting Point

In the report via CNET, the research group basically concludes that if you believe in the flat earth theory, you probably didn’t until you watched YouTube videos about it. The research, conducted by Texas Tech University, interviewed 30 people at a recent ‘flat earth’ convention. Of all the people surveyed 29 of the 30 admitted that until they had watched a YouTube video on the subject they either didn’t believe in the theory or hadn’t heard of it.

Fake Information

While the report does not necessarily blame the video-hosting platform, it does highlight that sharing information based on ‘poor science’ will not help society. Google has already looked to try and help improve this via the website. Last month, they issued a statement in which they said: “We’ll begin reducing recommendations of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways. Such as videos promoting a phony miracle cure for a serious illness. Claiming the earth is flat. Or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11.”

The research did, however, conclude by saying that the best way to combat these videos at present is to counter them. “We don’t want YouTube to be full of videos saying here are all these reasons the Earth is flat. We need other videos saying here’s why those reasons aren’t real. And here’s a bunch of ways you can research it for yourself.”

To be honest, I’ve never really decided if flat Earth theorists really believe it. I can’t quite decide if they’re genuine or if they’re simply on the long-con troll.

What do you think? Do you believe in the flat Earth theory? – Let us know in the comments!