Episode 5: Conspiracies and Spiritual Bullies

Have you ever been trolled online, called a "sheep" or "sheeple," or told to wake up by someone who says they’re all about the "love and light"? And why are there so many spiritual people into conspiracy theories anyway? In Episode 5: Conspiracies and Spiritual Bullies, we try to figure it all out and take an in-depth look at spiritual bullying in online communities.

Here's the episode rundown:

• Shout out to our 100th Facebook follower!
• Lana explains what is bullying and how it can be defined in the context of spirituality
• We discuss gaslighting, a form of manipulation that is used to deceive someone into questioning their sense of perception or reality and give an example of its damaging effects with a story that happened in a new age spiritual Facebook group
• Mimi sheds a light on how social media algorithms have affected our sense of perception and our ability to empathize, and how online propaganda creates division by triggering emotional responses that will bring us to share something without questioning its origin
• Lana helps us understand the behavior
• How to leave an online spiritual group or person who is using the tactics we mentioned (bullying, gaslighting, manipulation, etc.) and who no longer reflects your personal values
• Our final thoughts and personal opinions on the matter​​

​Screwed Up is produced and edited by Mimi Bonhomme.
All music used with copyright permission. 

References cited by Lana:

Beck, J.S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
Cabaniss, D.L, Cherry, S., Douglas, C.J., & Schwartz, A. (2011). Psychodynamic psychotherapy: A clinical manual. Wiley-Blackwell.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2017, January). Bullying. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/bullying
Kowalski, R. M., Toth, A., & Morgan, M. (2018). Bullying and cyberbullying in adulthood and the workplace. Journal of Social Psychology, 158(1), 64–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2017.1302402
Sweet, P. L. (2019). The sociology of gaslighting. American Sociological Review, 84(5), 851–875. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122419874843

Links suggested by Mimi to learn more about social media algorithms: 

"Beware online "Filter Bubbles" 2011 Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles
Read "Mindf*ck" by whistleblower Christopher Wylie (who is currently banned from Facebook)