I wrote about Valerie Gilbert, a QAnon believer I know. Maybe you know someone like her, too. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/17/technology/qanon-meme-queen.html

A lot of QAnon punditry proceeds from the assumption that everyone who believes in it is insane, or stupid, or a committed fascist. I think that’s observably wrong, and more to the point, it’s an easy out.

A better question is what we do about the millions of people who are somewhere on the Q belief spectrum. I don’t have an answer yet, but I think we need to start by understanding what Q is doing for them.

A lot of QAnon believers will be asking questions in the next few weeks, as Trump leaves office and the core Q mythology unravels. It might be a rare opportunity to reach some of them.

Debunking and deplatforming is sometimes the appropriate strategy for conspiracy theorists (especially the violent/influential ones). But I hope Valerie’s story helps explain the limits of that approach. We need something else.

If you (or someone you know) has successfully helped break a friend or loved one out of QAnon or another online conspiracy theory community, I'd love to hear how you did it and what did and didn't work. DMs are open.