Taxonomizing Information Practices in a Large Conspiracy Movement: Using Early QAnon as a Case Study

This article presents a taxonomy of the informa-tion practices apparent in an imageboard discus-sion thread that was influ-ential in jump-starting the worldwide QAnon move-ment. After introducing QAnon with a review of literature, the author examines 4Chan /pol/ thread #147547939 (key in introducing multiple key elements of the QAnon narrative) to enumerate and classify the informa-tion practices deployed by discussion partici-pants. In conclusion, the article expands beyond existing research's previ-ous focus on outright fabrication, showing that early QAnon participants' information practices are also defined in large part by suspicious and idio-syncratic modes of read-ing authentic sources, not simply the propagation of falsehoods.