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Yoga followers infiltrated by QAnon conspirators on Instagram – © Alemko Coksa / Pixabay
- Yoga-loving Instagramers tell theories of the QAnon conspiracy movement.
- An academic denounces a “pastel version” – because it is adapted to the aesthetics of Instagram – of the movement.
- The phenomenon is nicknamed “normiefication” (normal being a term for someone not familiar with a web subculture).
In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have to deal with another epidemic: that of the conspiracy. The output of To sustain, the Covid-19 conspiracy documentary, Wednesday 11 November, is one of the visible faces of this conspiracy virus that is infiltrating everywhere. Even where you least expect it.
Yoga + QAnon: the crossover of the year 2020
Coming from the US but doing very well in France, the current conspiracy theory is obviously QAnon. It was born on the 4chan forum and is now exported to all social networks mainstream. Instagram and, more specifically, its community of lotus position detox and yogi juices, are part of QAnon’s new territory of influence.
The American podcast Conspirituality decrypts the phenomenon and identifies wellness influencers who embrace the QAnon theory. There is, for example, Krystal Tini (145,000 subscribers) who published in March 2020 a message qualifying Covid-19 as “fake news” using #qanon, #qarmy and #qpost.
Other yoga specialists are more subtle. This is the case with Stephanie Birch (50,000 subscribers) and her post first innocent on spiritual awakening. Except among the hashtags used, we find wwg1wga, one of the movement’s slogans. The hashtag has since been removed from the post. The trend is such in the community that Schuyler Grant, founder of the Kula Yoga Project studio, has posted a video to express his concern and report abuse.
The “second wave” of QAnon
The invasion of QAnon theories into the yoga world is surprising at first sight. But on closer inspection, the welfare movement in which the practice takes place provides the ideal ground for conspiracy theories. We talk about the spiritual awakening, the perception of the world in a different way and the acceptance of the signs of the universe. The same ideas we find among the conspirators. Add to that closed gyms and frustrated yogis and all the ingredients are there.
Far from being anecdotal, this conspiracy twist in the yoga world is above all the sign of a disturbing mutation in QAnon theory. As Q’s followers are launched on a gigantic treasure hunt in search of clues, the new followers are content to collect the pieces of language to argue with each other over their network. Asked by
Insider, Marc Tuters of the University of Amsterdam talks about a “second wave of QAnon” and a “pastel version” of the movement adapted to the Instagram aesthetic that no longer has much to do with the early conspirators.
Without recruiting ultra-committed new members, the QAnon theory spreads to new people and touches communities that were thought to be beyond its reach. The researchers of the University of Amsterdam speak of a phenomenon of “standardization” (normal be a term for someone unfamiliar with a web subculture.) Why is this serious? Because the process of “normificazione” has made it possible to “make the movement accessible and digestible to people who were not in extremes. The conspirators have therefore left the sidelines and are now attacking the mainstream.
The original article was written by Alice Huot and posted on the DNA website.
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