Web of Conspiracy: A Guide to Conspiracy Theory Sites on the Internet

Citation

MacDonald, R. (2009), "Web of Conspiracy: A Guide to Conspiracy Theory Sites on the Internet", The Electronic Library, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 190-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470910934894

Web of Conspiracy aims to be “part reference book, part internet guide” with regard to the twenty‐one conspiracy theories it covers. It serves both of these purposes, perhaps succeeding best in being a light, fast‐paced read that gives a succinct and often wry introduction to its various subjects; however, the reader could also go back and use it as valuable starting point for investigating the implausibly strange yet occasionally oddly plausible beliefs held by various inhabitants of the online world.

The authors, both experienced journalists, have previously published a guide to online news sources. Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web (CyberAge Books, 2007) and The Reporters' Well (http://thereporterswell.com/index.html), a web site described as providing inspiration and online resources to non‐fiction writers. They have the reporter's eye for the telling detail or pithy phrase: they describe Wikipedia articles relating to the Roswell UFO as a mix of “fun facts, serious scholarship, and unproved allegations” (p. 10). Each chapter begins with a short summary of the origin, history, and major themes of a given conspiracy, then goes on to summarise what the authors feel are the 7‐10 best relevant web sites. Employing a journalistic rather than an academic style, these summaries are models of how well such things can be written: this book really is an enjoyable read and not a dry slog. Broderick and Miller seem to provide well‐balanced presentations of the various aspects of each conspiracy, although their entry on the origin of AIDS seems to imply there is more disagreement in the medical world about HIV being the cause of AIDS than there really is. The authors have not tried to produce a really comprehensive guide to conspiracies or their web sites: most of the topics covered are relatively well‐known (e.g. the JFK assassination, the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 “cover‐up”), and were selected at least partly for that reason.

Although this is an enjoyable and useful book, it could have been better. For instance, there is relatively little effort to analyse about what makes conspiracy theories tick: the authors note that Princess Diana's very popularity ensures questions will always be asked, and elsewhere that the “vacuum of uncertainty” will always be filled with informed speculation (pp. 231‐2), but this is about as deep as it gets, and many of the entries end with concluding remarks that are little more than puff. In addition, perhaps two thirds of the chapters deal with specifically US conspiracies: does that reflect the use of popular online resources alone, or does it say something about the American psyche? It would have been interesting to see more discussion of such issues – nothing too heavy, but something more than has been included. For information professionals too, the book may raise questions about the role of the internet: the inclusion of several Wikipedia articles in some chapters might suggest it has provided an unbiased publishing vehicle for some fairly unorthodox views, or perhaps that the wisdom of the masses is occasionally captured by frankly bizarre ideas. Or that perhaps that's what someone wants us to think…