The subject that gave me the most emotional feedback on Twitter — positive and negative — was “undue influence” aka brainwashing and the extent to which we can and should see cult members as victims. I believe we should and we must. 30% of the country is affected. These are our loved ones — we cannot give up on them. However, as I have also said, if you commit crimes or hurt people, you must be held accountable.
In the podcast I refer to this video which shows how social media contributes to undue influence. I recorded myself getting indoctrinated into QAnon account by simply following Twitter’s recommendations.
Three days before this video was recorded I wrote this article that described the experience of going to “Qwitter” for the first time and seeing what I saw as “an industrial brainwashing machine.”
For more information about cults and undue influence, follow Dr. Steven Hassan — @CultExpert on Twitter.
Let me know what you think in the comments. 💙🙏🏻
Undue Influence — Jane’s Story