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Among the Trolls: My Journey Through Conspiracyland
MY NAME IS MARIANNA SPRING AND SOME OF MY TROLLS SAY THEY WANT TO KILL ME
Threats and abuse litter my social media feeds. They infect my everyday life. Sometimes the people behind the messages try to find me in person. This seems to be the price of venturing into the world of conspiracy theories, hate and algorithms. And it turns out, I am far from alone.
In 2020, I became the BBC's first disinformation and social media correspondent, and since then I have been trying to understand conspiracyland. Where does the vitriol come from? What drives otherwise reasonable people to believe that almost everything - from the worst attacks and wars to global health crises and climate change - is a hoax designed to kill or control millions of us?
In Among the Trolls I tell the first-hand stories of the trolls and the trolled, those behind the information battle that threatens not just the way society works, but also some of the qualities we value most about being human: respect, fairness, tolerance, integrity and kindness.
Threats and abuse litter my social media feeds. They infect my everyday life. Sometimes the people behind the messages try to find me in person. This seems to be the price of venturing into the world of conspiracy theories, hate and algorithms. And it turns out, I am far from alone.
In 2020, I became the BBC's first disinformation and social media correspondent, and since then I have been trying to understand conspiracyland. Where does the vitriol come from? What drives otherwise reasonable people to believe that almost everything - from the worst attacks and wars to global health crises and climate change - is a hoax designed to kill or control millions of us?
In Among the Trolls I tell the first-hand stories of the trolls and the trolled, those behind the information battle that threatens not just the way society works, but also some of the qualities we value most about being human: respect, fairness, tolerance, integrity and kindness.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published March 7, 2024
50 people are currently reading
520 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 7, 2024
1) In warfare human beings discover a capability for violence they never knew they had; so long as it’s sanctioned by the state they can bomb and kill with ease. Now social media has revealed something else we weren’t aware of - a propensity in many people for wild untethered beliefs and uncouth speech that has come as a shock. We have all found out that for many people (your son, your dear little grandmamma, the hairdresser, the bassist in your third favourite band) there is absolutely no notion of the objective reality we ourselves always assumed; they actually never did believe in any of these concepts of democracy and liberal government and rule of law that the rest of us have been taking for granted, they think it’s all a puppeteered sham and we are the sheeple being herded about. And it’s never not been a sham.
2) But wait - if the conspiracies unearthed by the theorists are so vast, complex and powerful how are they ever to be defeated? What would success look like to a conspiracy believer?
3) One conspiracy pusher explains the difference between him and Marianna : ”You believe all people are good. I believe almost everyone is bad.”
4) Marianna asks herself why she doesn’t believe in conspiracies:
At the heart of it is a simple answer: trust. I have faith in a system and institutions that have no on the whole let me down, plus a doctor for a dad and a mum who was once a nurse.
OMG, this sounds truly naïve, and I can hear even non-truther readers failing to stifle guffaws. And yet, I agree with her. I believe in double blind clinical trials, I believe in peer-reviewed scientific papers, I believe that the government is real and that I and my fellow citizens can throw the rascals out when we vote, and get some new rascals in.
5) But! If you oppose conspiracy theories you are quite often in the sorry unpleasant position of having to defend the findings of the FBI and CIA etc about such matters as 9/11 and JFK. It’s invidious.
6) The conspiracy believers will take the official version of a particular event and give it unrelenting scrutiny and dismantle it and mock it. The arguments against the official version, however, are given zero scrutiny, they are instantly accepted.
7) You might think that the conspiracy believers get involved in their campaigns in order to feel better, to gain what they call “agency” these days. But you’d be wrong (I was).
The true believers become even more powerless, because ultimately thy can’t resolve the fabricated plot they think they’ve uncovered. They also find themselves exploited by new powerful people – the leaders of this conspiracy world.
That was an interesting insight, on page 46. Unfortunately on page 47 we read :
Conspiracy theories and falsehoods help believers feel powerful in a world where lots of people feel powerless.
So, er, which is it?
8) Isaac Newton was an alchemist and Conan Doyle believed in spiritualism, and also fairies. Some scientists are full of irrational thought.
9) The Russian state conspires to promote conspiracy theories about the West, NATO, Ukraine, etc. A real conspiracy encourages fake conspiracies.
10) The last part of this book is very repetetetive. Marianna sets up a number of fake accounts with the Big Five (Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter/X, Tiktok) using various profiles and checks what stuff their algorithms send to her. No surprise, as, for example, a profile for a fake 14 year old boy, after he clicka and likes some videos, is quickly sent by Tiktok lots of videos glorifying gang life and knife carrying. Or a profile of a concerned 40 year old woman is sent antivax stuff. This is the stuff the companies say they don’t allow. When Marianna shows them proof that their vetting procedures are not working, they refuse an interview and fob her off with a bland statement. “Snapchat strictly prohibits bullying, harassment and any illegal activity…[we] provide confidential in-app reporting tools”.
Marianna is contemptuous in a polite sort of way :
These are the sorts of responses I often receive from social media sites. They are practically interchangeable, and often describe policies that my reporting contradicts or reveals to be inadequately enforced.
11) Conspiracy theories rely on the belief that many many people are almost superhuman, capable of plans that would be incredibly difficult or even impossible to pull off. When backed into a corner, conspiracy theorists afford magical powers to the cabal of powerful, corrupt people they believe are pulling all the strings.
12 ) Between 1 January 2023 and the end of June that year the BBC received 14,488 warnings about abusive social media posts relating to their personnel. Of this number, 11,771 relate to me.
Because Marianna has been exposing online conspiracy trollers for a few years. They know who she is and they hate her.
FURTHER READING
I have already read :
Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and its Human Fallout by Ginger Gorman
This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture by Whitney Phillips
The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World by James Ball
These are all well worth it, but of course the conspiracy theories of yesteryear begin to look quaint.
2) But wait - if the conspiracies unearthed by the theorists are so vast, complex and powerful how are they ever to be defeated? What would success look like to a conspiracy believer?
3) One conspiracy pusher explains the difference between him and Marianna : ”You believe all people are good. I believe almost everyone is bad.”
4) Marianna asks herself why she doesn’t believe in conspiracies:
At the heart of it is a simple answer: trust. I have faith in a system and institutions that have no on the whole let me down, plus a doctor for a dad and a mum who was once a nurse.
OMG, this sounds truly naïve, and I can hear even non-truther readers failing to stifle guffaws. And yet, I agree with her. I believe in double blind clinical trials, I believe in peer-reviewed scientific papers, I believe that the government is real and that I and my fellow citizens can throw the rascals out when we vote, and get some new rascals in.
5) But! If you oppose conspiracy theories you are quite often in the sorry unpleasant position of having to defend the findings of the FBI and CIA etc about such matters as 9/11 and JFK. It’s invidious.
6) The conspiracy believers will take the official version of a particular event and give it unrelenting scrutiny and dismantle it and mock it. The arguments against the official version, however, are given zero scrutiny, they are instantly accepted.
7) You might think that the conspiracy believers get involved in their campaigns in order to feel better, to gain what they call “agency” these days. But you’d be wrong (I was).
The true believers become even more powerless, because ultimately thy can’t resolve the fabricated plot they think they’ve uncovered. They also find themselves exploited by new powerful people – the leaders of this conspiracy world.
That was an interesting insight, on page 46. Unfortunately on page 47 we read :
Conspiracy theories and falsehoods help believers feel powerful in a world where lots of people feel powerless.
So, er, which is it?
8) Isaac Newton was an alchemist and Conan Doyle believed in spiritualism, and also fairies. Some scientists are full of irrational thought.
9) The Russian state conspires to promote conspiracy theories about the West, NATO, Ukraine, etc. A real conspiracy encourages fake conspiracies.
10) The last part of this book is very repetetetive. Marianna sets up a number of fake accounts with the Big Five (Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter/X, Tiktok) using various profiles and checks what stuff their algorithms send to her. No surprise, as, for example, a profile for a fake 14 year old boy, after he clicka and likes some videos, is quickly sent by Tiktok lots of videos glorifying gang life and knife carrying. Or a profile of a concerned 40 year old woman is sent antivax stuff. This is the stuff the companies say they don’t allow. When Marianna shows them proof that their vetting procedures are not working, they refuse an interview and fob her off with a bland statement. “Snapchat strictly prohibits bullying, harassment and any illegal activity…[we] provide confidential in-app reporting tools”.
Marianna is contemptuous in a polite sort of way :
These are the sorts of responses I often receive from social media sites. They are practically interchangeable, and often describe policies that my reporting contradicts or reveals to be inadequately enforced.
11) Conspiracy theories rely on the belief that many many people are almost superhuman, capable of plans that would be incredibly difficult or even impossible to pull off. When backed into a corner, conspiracy theorists afford magical powers to the cabal of powerful, corrupt people they believe are pulling all the strings.
12 ) Between 1 January 2023 and the end of June that year the BBC received 14,488 warnings about abusive social media posts relating to their personnel. Of this number, 11,771 relate to me.
Because Marianna has been exposing online conspiracy trollers for a few years. They know who she is and they hate her.
FURTHER READING
I have already read :
Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and its Human Fallout by Ginger Gorman
This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture by Whitney Phillips
The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World by James Ball
These are all well worth it, but of course the conspiracy theories of yesteryear begin to look quaint.
May 30, 2025
Surface-level “investigation” that reveals nothing new.
A focus on the victims of conspiracy rather than conspiracy itself leaves the reader asking why 300 pages of anecdotal “evidence” led to no follow-up questions.
The only redeeming feature of this drawn out introduction of a book, is that it gives a moral impetus to understand conspiracies further by giving the real-world human victims of conspiracy thinking a name (often redacted) and a voice. However, interesting questions such as what drives conspiracies, or why people seem more susceptible in the modern age to believe them, or why people believe false things at all, or why humans have tendency to recognise patterns, or why humans have a tendency to narrativise their knowledge and create frameworks of understanding and belief that accrete around a greater purpose or goal, are, not only unanswered, but never asked.
I was Just left wanting so much more. But Maybe this wasn’t ever that sort of book.
Side note: the author is a self proclaimed “investigative journalist” although rarely investigated journalistically. Instead, her research could be better described as A survey, and her findings as armchair psychologising.
A focus on the victims of conspiracy rather than conspiracy itself leaves the reader asking why 300 pages of anecdotal “evidence” led to no follow-up questions.
The only redeeming feature of this drawn out introduction of a book, is that it gives a moral impetus to understand conspiracies further by giving the real-world human victims of conspiracy thinking a name (often redacted) and a voice. However, interesting questions such as what drives conspiracies, or why people seem more susceptible in the modern age to believe them, or why people believe false things at all, or why humans have tendency to recognise patterns, or why humans have a tendency to narrativise their knowledge and create frameworks of understanding and belief that accrete around a greater purpose or goal, are, not only unanswered, but never asked.
I was Just left wanting so much more. But Maybe this wasn’t ever that sort of book.
Side note: the author is a self proclaimed “investigative journalist” although rarely investigated journalistically. Instead, her research could be better described as A survey, and her findings as armchair psychologising.
March 5, 2025
“I’ve been among the trolls and this disinformation war is changing the world as we know it. It’s affecting every single one of us.”
A brilliant book that breaks down how conspiracy theories work - who tends to believe them, who profits from them, what are the main channels (spoiler alert: social media) and how online hate, abuse, misinformation and disinformation translates into the offline world causing harm, distress, violence, murder, suicide.
It’s a systemic problem.
This book is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the world we live in and protect themselves from its very dark and dangerous side.
It’s made me rethink my relationship with social media. It also reminded me that at the core of this collective wound lives the absence of trust, which is what makes people look for hope in - sometimes - the darkest of places.
A brilliant book that breaks down how conspiracy theories work - who tends to believe them, who profits from them, what are the main channels (spoiler alert: social media) and how online hate, abuse, misinformation and disinformation translates into the offline world causing harm, distress, violence, murder, suicide.
It’s a systemic problem.
This book is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the world we live in and protect themselves from its very dark and dangerous side.
It’s made me rethink my relationship with social media. It also reminded me that at the core of this collective wound lives the absence of trust, which is what makes people look for hope in - sometimes - the darkest of places.
March 29, 2024
I have finished reading “Among the Trolls: My Journey Through Conspiracyland.” By Marianna Spring.
Marianna Spring is the BBC’s Disinformation Correspondent.
"You believe all people are good. I believe almost everyone is bad".
Conspiracy theorist interviewed by Marianna Spring.
The world of conspiracy theories, or “Conspiracyland” as Marianna Spring calls it, has changed in recent years. What was seen as a small and harmless interest for a quirky minority has seem to be have gained new strength and purpose after 9/11 (when the author was 5 years old, cheers for making me feel like a dinosaur BTW Ms. Spring). But it was the 2020 COVID Pandemic that seems to have given Conspiracyland a shot in the arm with many more new recruits. But the success of Conspiracyland has been given a big help by the rise of Social Media.
This book isn’t designed as a blow by blow historical account of how the conspiracy theory movement in the UK and beyond has got to the extent it has. Instead, the author dedicates this book mainly to looking the human side of this issue. The rank-and-file believers are looked at alongside the profiteers as well as the victims. The author’s exploration of the mindset of believers by engaging with them is the main pulse of this book. While the author makes clear that as a journalist, she is in no place to promote remedies for this big problem, she equally makes clear that engagement with such people (who she sees as victims of conspiracy theories too) has to be part of the way of addressing it. Sometimes this made myself as the reader feel conflicted in my emotions, especially when she was patiently engaging with believers who had harassed the survivors of terror attacks just to “prove” their injuries were faked. But in many ways, I feel she may be looking down the right avenue. After all, getting people out of Conspiracyland is basically a process of deradicalisation.
This book in many ways felt like a game of two halves. Much of the first part seems to be dedicated to shedding a human light on those who become ensnared by the conspiracy theory movement. I would like to make the point of saying that I also highly appreciate Spring’s efforts to focus on the picture of the UK Conspiracyland scene, before looking further out. Too many experts seem to get caught in American narratives and seem to forget there is a world beyond the US. The second half though is a pretty strong critique of the irresponsibility of Social Media companies, backed up by some convincing research. She carefully lays out some real world examples of where harm has been inflicted via Social Media in and out of Conspiracyland, showing the wider implications of not holding the companies that own it to account.
In terms of showing the problem and the best and worst of humanity and knowing her subject area, I cannot fault the author. What I did feel a bit short changed on was the chapter talking about possible remedies to the problem of Conspiracyland being supercharged by Social Media. I find the excuse that she is a journalist and not a campaigner as not entirely convincing in this respect, since she has obviously researched and publicised this problem in order to have it addressed. In her writing she comes across as too insightful, thoughtful and curious not to at least have thought about problem solutions.
Yet this slight cop out is partially made up by a small rump section at the end throwing out a few pre-existing policy solutions. Finland in particular has for some years now put Critical Thinking on their School Curriculum to make young people alert to disinformation and misinformation. Just to be clear disinformation is the deliberate weaponizing of information for an agenda, misinformation is closer to just being uninformed or misinformed.
Marianna Spring also touches on the issue of Trust in UK society and many parts of the West being worryingly low, especially in governing institutions. She rightly points out that supporting investigative journalism is a partial remedy for this problem. But I think she potentially could have delved a lot deeper into the origin problem of why people find solace in Conspiracyland. The UK in 2024 does not come off, on the whole, as a very hopeful and happy place to myself. Mixed in with this is a culture that puts off open public discussion of politics across different tribes of opinion. Social Media has not only polarised public debate so we talk within our echo chambers, but trolling culture discourages us from admitting that we don’t know things, for fear of retribution. Unfortunately, out of fear of avoiding uncertainty, too many people find their protection from it in Conspiracyland. The problem is getting worse.
Even though this book was a tough read at times, I believe Marianna Spring was the right person at the right time to write about this important subject. But I got a sense that she had only scratched the surface. In true conspiracy theory-style, I am interested to see where else she takes us further down the rabbit hole.
Marianna Spring is the BBC’s Disinformation Correspondent.
"You believe all people are good. I believe almost everyone is bad".
Conspiracy theorist interviewed by Marianna Spring.
The world of conspiracy theories, or “Conspiracyland” as Marianna Spring calls it, has changed in recent years. What was seen as a small and harmless interest for a quirky minority has seem to be have gained new strength and purpose after 9/11 (when the author was 5 years old, cheers for making me feel like a dinosaur BTW Ms. Spring). But it was the 2020 COVID Pandemic that seems to have given Conspiracyland a shot in the arm with many more new recruits. But the success of Conspiracyland has been given a big help by the rise of Social Media.
This book isn’t designed as a blow by blow historical account of how the conspiracy theory movement in the UK and beyond has got to the extent it has. Instead, the author dedicates this book mainly to looking the human side of this issue. The rank-and-file believers are looked at alongside the profiteers as well as the victims. The author’s exploration of the mindset of believers by engaging with them is the main pulse of this book. While the author makes clear that as a journalist, she is in no place to promote remedies for this big problem, she equally makes clear that engagement with such people (who she sees as victims of conspiracy theories too) has to be part of the way of addressing it. Sometimes this made myself as the reader feel conflicted in my emotions, especially when she was patiently engaging with believers who had harassed the survivors of terror attacks just to “prove” their injuries were faked. But in many ways, I feel she may be looking down the right avenue. After all, getting people out of Conspiracyland is basically a process of deradicalisation.
This book in many ways felt like a game of two halves. Much of the first part seems to be dedicated to shedding a human light on those who become ensnared by the conspiracy theory movement. I would like to make the point of saying that I also highly appreciate Spring’s efforts to focus on the picture of the UK Conspiracyland scene, before looking further out. Too many experts seem to get caught in American narratives and seem to forget there is a world beyond the US. The second half though is a pretty strong critique of the irresponsibility of Social Media companies, backed up by some convincing research. She carefully lays out some real world examples of where harm has been inflicted via Social Media in and out of Conspiracyland, showing the wider implications of not holding the companies that own it to account.
In terms of showing the problem and the best and worst of humanity and knowing her subject area, I cannot fault the author. What I did feel a bit short changed on was the chapter talking about possible remedies to the problem of Conspiracyland being supercharged by Social Media. I find the excuse that she is a journalist and not a campaigner as not entirely convincing in this respect, since she has obviously researched and publicised this problem in order to have it addressed. In her writing she comes across as too insightful, thoughtful and curious not to at least have thought about problem solutions.
Yet this slight cop out is partially made up by a small rump section at the end throwing out a few pre-existing policy solutions. Finland in particular has for some years now put Critical Thinking on their School Curriculum to make young people alert to disinformation and misinformation. Just to be clear disinformation is the deliberate weaponizing of information for an agenda, misinformation is closer to just being uninformed or misinformed.
Marianna Spring also touches on the issue of Trust in UK society and many parts of the West being worryingly low, especially in governing institutions. She rightly points out that supporting investigative journalism is a partial remedy for this problem. But I think she potentially could have delved a lot deeper into the origin problem of why people find solace in Conspiracyland. The UK in 2024 does not come off, on the whole, as a very hopeful and happy place to myself. Mixed in with this is a culture that puts off open public discussion of politics across different tribes of opinion. Social Media has not only polarised public debate so we talk within our echo chambers, but trolling culture discourages us from admitting that we don’t know things, for fear of retribution. Unfortunately, out of fear of avoiding uncertainty, too many people find their protection from it in Conspiracyland. The problem is getting worse.
Even though this book was a tough read at times, I believe Marianna Spring was the right person at the right time to write about this important subject. But I got a sense that she had only scratched the surface. In true conspiracy theory-style, I am interested to see where else she takes us further down the rabbit hole.
March 4, 2025
Aw man, a bit of a dark read. The world of conspiracy theories is just as real, bleak and unstoppable as you think it is.
In a nutshell, lonely, fearful people wanting a sense of hierarchy and belonging love conspiracy theories. They are often searching for a simple truth where they can blame someone (conspiracy theories are all about blame), and tend to believe in the death penalty (remember "hang Mike Pence"?). This predisposition to violence means trolls and those blank profile accounts that leave nasty comments on your Instagram Stories are also the type of people who refuse the COVID jab.
What's worse is you can't really reason with the conspiracy theorists. They just entrench themselves and look for the next story to peddle. People have lost family members whilst arguing over whether crisis actors are a real or not (they're not, it's just no one wants to believe that terror attacks do happen).
So in short, a super interesting read and the writer is a triple hard b*stard considering just how many trolls approach her (online and in real life). The only negative thing I'd say is the latter few chapters are a bit samey, you probably only need to read the first 150 pages to understand the whole book.
In a nutshell, lonely, fearful people wanting a sense of hierarchy and belonging love conspiracy theories. They are often searching for a simple truth where they can blame someone (conspiracy theories are all about blame), and tend to believe in the death penalty (remember "hang Mike Pence"?). This predisposition to violence means trolls and those blank profile accounts that leave nasty comments on your Instagram Stories are also the type of people who refuse the COVID jab.
What's worse is you can't really reason with the conspiracy theorists. They just entrench themselves and look for the next story to peddle. People have lost family members whilst arguing over whether crisis actors are a real or not (they're not, it's just no one wants to believe that terror attacks do happen).
So in short, a super interesting read and the writer is a triple hard b*stard considering just how many trolls approach her (online and in real life). The only negative thing I'd say is the latter few chapters are a bit samey, you probably only need to read the first 150 pages to understand the whole book.
March 24, 2024
This is an eye-opening commentary on a real 21st century problem. Conspiracy theories have been around for a huge number of years but in today’s world they all seem to have been supercharged and with the explosion of social media in today’s world it feels like these can spread like wildfire.
Marianna Spring presents the uncomfortable truth of what is going on in the world and she presents this in a non-judgemental but highly knowledgeable way that is engaging to read and learn about and it’s clear that she has a pure passion for her job and opening all our eyes to what’s going on in the online world we all are apart off. Marianna not only fights for the victims, but she also tries to uncover and understand the trolls and what motivates them.
A Really insightful read that really shines a spotlight on the world and people of Conspiracyland!
Marianna Spring presents the uncomfortable truth of what is going on in the world and she presents this in a non-judgemental but highly knowledgeable way that is engaging to read and learn about and it’s clear that she has a pure passion for her job and opening all our eyes to what’s going on in the online world we all are apart off. Marianna not only fights for the victims, but she also tries to uncover and understand the trolls and what motivates them.
A Really insightful read that really shines a spotlight on the world and people of Conspiracyland!
March 29, 2024
Amazing book detailing different investigations Marianna has done around conspiracies and misinformation. She treats all of her subjects with such empathy and provides insightful analysis about how misinformation spreads and why.
April 1, 2024
Great book that really deserves more of a review, because it really shows what you can do with some good reporting/journalism compared to more reaserch based books. But that will be for another time.
Now I just have to say that I really hate the cover. But dont judge the book by it.
Now I just have to say that I really hate the cover. But dont judge the book by it.
December 31, 2024
A fascinating read, very well written and very accessible, that deals with several key aspects of the conspiracy world and what fuels it. I really appreciated how clear the author was, especially on her intentions, and the great empathy she demonstrates. I highly recommend this book.
April 26, 2024
A canary in the coalmine. Great, and necessary
March 11, 2024
I have so much respect for Marianna Spring taking on this cesspool of trolls. She is unique in that not only does she fight for the victims but she genuinely tries to understand the trolls and what motivates them, sometimes finding that they are victims themselves.
I don't feel positive about our future or that the SM platforms that drive the hate will be held to account anytime soon.
I don't feel positive about our future or that the SM platforms that drive the hate will be held to account anytime soon.
June 14, 2024
This book is almost entirely anecdotal. After reading this book I went off to learn more about Marianna Spring and she seems to have been spreading a few conspiracy theories of her own. I learned nothing by reading this book, overall it was very poor.
January 7, 2025
An intense and engaging journey through the rabbit hole into the world of conspiracy theories, Marianna Spring’s account is sharply descriptive but little more.
Since 2020, Marianna Spring has been the BBC’s first disinformation correspondent, reporting exclusively on the spread of misunderstandings, lies and delusional assertions. This book recounts her experiences, with a particular focus on the UK-based conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
She has chapters about how people come to believe unsubstantiated theories, the state actors that operate behind some of them and the platforms that allow such disinformation to flourish. Each section is logically assembled and clear to follow, so much so that I became somewhat self-conscious about how easy it might be to follow some of these “eccentrics” or “loons” and become a conspiracy theorist myself.
That she has become one of the country’s foremost experts cannot be doubted, and the recollections of the abuse that has been aimed at her – including men shouting at her down the street – put me in awe of her bravery. Indeed 80% of all the Beeb’s abusive complaints are aimed at Spring.
However, the real achievement of this book is how it shows the consequences of the spread of disinformation, presenting the tragic stories that led people to forgo vital medicine or – in extreme cases – to take their own lives.
We live in an age where social media appears like a ‘wild west’ and this book showcases why many believe regulation is needed. It’s something I’ve been cautious of supporting – valuing free speech – but the experiences recounted within Among the Trolls shows that allowing fake, unevidenced news, easy platforms to spread is a deeply damaging thing.
Though it seems a safe assertion that Spring supports regulation, there is no deep-dive into the arguments around it nor the pros and cons of the different systems put forwards – and this is just one example of how the book is limited in its scope, something which frustrated me.
It describes these “conspiracy theorist” worlds, always engagingly and often movingly, but rarely does it scratch below the surface as to why these things are happening. It would have been a much longer text I suppose, but I would have liked more analysis into why so much of the aggressive language used by conspiracy theorists is gendered in tone, why some of those involved end up hurting themselves and – most significantly – why people believe these things when all evidence is to the contrary.
This to me is the most interesting part of conspiracy land and too often Spring ignores or struggles to answer these questions. Perhaps, one day she will do so within a sequel.
Even so, this is an engaging, thought-provoking account that is thoroughly worth reading – especially if you’re interested in the ongoing debate between freedom of speech and regulation of social media platforms, one of the big issues of our time.
Since 2020, Marianna Spring has been the BBC’s first disinformation correspondent, reporting exclusively on the spread of misunderstandings, lies and delusional assertions. This book recounts her experiences, with a particular focus on the UK-based conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
She has chapters about how people come to believe unsubstantiated theories, the state actors that operate behind some of them and the platforms that allow such disinformation to flourish. Each section is logically assembled and clear to follow, so much so that I became somewhat self-conscious about how easy it might be to follow some of these “eccentrics” or “loons” and become a conspiracy theorist myself.
That she has become one of the country’s foremost experts cannot be doubted, and the recollections of the abuse that has been aimed at her – including men shouting at her down the street – put me in awe of her bravery. Indeed 80% of all the Beeb’s abusive complaints are aimed at Spring.
However, the real achievement of this book is how it shows the consequences of the spread of disinformation, presenting the tragic stories that led people to forgo vital medicine or – in extreme cases – to take their own lives.
We live in an age where social media appears like a ‘wild west’ and this book showcases why many believe regulation is needed. It’s something I’ve been cautious of supporting – valuing free speech – but the experiences recounted within Among the Trolls shows that allowing fake, unevidenced news, easy platforms to spread is a deeply damaging thing.
Though it seems a safe assertion that Spring supports regulation, there is no deep-dive into the arguments around it nor the pros and cons of the different systems put forwards – and this is just one example of how the book is limited in its scope, something which frustrated me.
It describes these “conspiracy theorist” worlds, always engagingly and often movingly, but rarely does it scratch below the surface as to why these things are happening. It would have been a much longer text I suppose, but I would have liked more analysis into why so much of the aggressive language used by conspiracy theorists is gendered in tone, why some of those involved end up hurting themselves and – most significantly – why people believe these things when all evidence is to the contrary.
This to me is the most interesting part of conspiracy land and too often Spring ignores or struggles to answer these questions. Perhaps, one day she will do so within a sequel.
Even so, this is an engaging, thought-provoking account that is thoroughly worth reading – especially if you’re interested in the ongoing debate between freedom of speech and regulation of social media platforms, one of the big issues of our time.
July 20, 2024
it kind of feels essential these days to know about conspiracy theories, conspiracy theorists, disinformation and trolls- sort of like a social media self-defence course. Understanding how these things work can act like an emotional or intellectual armour against the toxic blasts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc. Marianna Spring's book is a good place to get some of that understanding. As a report on conspiracy theories for the BBC she has seen, investigated and been exposed to the worst of it. There are some nuggets of hope (in the stories of those who have escaped, or those who have backed away from their worst behaviour), but overall this is a depressing story with little chance of significant change. Spring covers a wide range of topics, but the ones I found the most interesting were those on the motivations of these trolls: why do people fall for these conspiracies? Why do they propound them? What do they get out of it? She answers these questions with a combination of evidence, interviews and encounters with the trolls in question that is both illuminating and fascinating.
March 21, 2024
Just finished this fantastic commentary on a real 21st century problem. Conspiracy theories have been around since Adam was a lad, but today’s hyper connected world has supercharged the spread of such stuff, with Trolls having a perfect base and situation to attack for fun (or otherwise)
The author presents the uncomfortable reality of what is going on in our world in a knowledgeable and non judgemental way. Shocking in parts, it’s just a pity that the people in society who really would benefit from reading this book will never see it.
Marianna Spring describes several possible solutions, from the perpetrators coming face to face with their victims to greater control and monitoring of the powerful social media platforms.
My recommendation is for the book to be on the National Curriculum so that every (internet savvy) school pupil gets to understand how misinformation and trolling happens, and how to spot it before it engulfs you.
A strong 5 star recommendation
The author presents the uncomfortable reality of what is going on in our world in a knowledgeable and non judgemental way. Shocking in parts, it’s just a pity that the people in society who really would benefit from reading this book will never see it.
Marianna Spring describes several possible solutions, from the perpetrators coming face to face with their victims to greater control and monitoring of the powerful social media platforms.
My recommendation is for the book to be on the National Curriculum so that every (internet savvy) school pupil gets to understand how misinformation and trolling happens, and how to spot it before it engulfs you.
A strong 5 star recommendation
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July 23, 2025this was a very interesting look into the world of conspiracy theories (anti mask/vacc, staged terror attacks etc)
overall well rounded out with personal experiences with conspiracy theorists as a journalist, and a look at multiple conspiracies and digging into where they came from, why they exist and how so many people believe and push them. I do wish more time and depth was spent on the analysis of the people who do go down these pipelines but I can totally see how they get there, how one leaks into another and the divisive world we live in allows for cracks in society where these theories form and live. would recommend!
overall well rounded out with personal experiences with conspiracy theorists as a journalist, and a look at multiple conspiracies and digging into where they came from, why they exist and how so many people believe and push them. I do wish more time and depth was spent on the analysis of the people who do go down these pipelines but I can totally see how they get there, how one leaks into another and the divisive world we live in allows for cracks in society where these theories form and live. would recommend!
November 20, 2025
I loved this a lot. It’s super accessible if you’re not obsessed like I am but also full of information. I like that she used people she actually met to explain the way some people can go through that very specific rabbit hole ; I wouldn’t say it could happen to anyone (just like cults you do need a few personality traits to be more susceptible to those things) but it can happen to regular people for sure. I also really like that she gives a really good explanation of some of the mental mechanisms that are at play, and why the COVID pandemic was a starting point for many people.
April 25, 2024
Insightful without being judgmental
What am important contribution to our understanding of how the world is being influenced by social media. To see how these companies are causing so much damage (and yes they enable some good) with apparently no effective oversight. We’ve been asleep at the wheel. It was also a useful reminder in how to check our sources, and not just pass on posts without ensuring we are not adding to the lies.
What am important contribution to our understanding of how the world is being influenced by social media. To see how these companies are causing so much damage (and yes they enable some good) with apparently no effective oversight. We’ve been asleep at the wheel. It was also a useful reminder in how to check our sources, and not just pass on posts without ensuring we are not adding to the lies.
November 21, 2024
Interesting, informative, no surprises, just a horrible amount of predictable BS from characters of the Nylon Musk variety.
And dare I say it, a bit too British, and therefore not quite salacious enough for my 'waiting to be outraged' tastes. I want fuckers like Alex Jones (the Sandy Hook school shooting denier) to be strung up by their miserly, stringy ball sacks and left to be pecked by crows.
And dare I say it, a bit too British, and therefore not quite salacious enough for my 'waiting to be outraged' tastes. I want fuckers like Alex Jones (the Sandy Hook school shooting denier) to be strung up by their miserly, stringy ball sacks and left to be pecked by crows.
November 26, 2024
I have listened to a lot of Marianna Spring's podcasts on the world of trolls, misinformation and online chicanery and a lot of it is featured here. The book is well written and wizzes along. What I love most about her style is that her default setting is empathy as opposed to judgement. This is a key to her success as a journalist. Well worth a read if you are at all interested in how we got here and how to navigate through this tricky world of smoke and mirrors.
March 7, 2025
Initially bought this as the topic is right up my street. But the content was lacking depth and was drawn out. I feel as though this book could’ve been cut down at least 25%. Whilst Spring has inside knowledge on the topic, almost of all the book is ‘googleable’, with little unique and insightful first hand expertise. This book could’ve been written with a lot more ‘oompf’. Somehow making such the fascinating topic of conspiracies laborious.
April 13, 2025
I'm a big admirer of Spring's journalistic work and her manner of presentation through podcasts – very little of which was on display here. It felt like a quite hastily assembled patchwork of online articles, resulting in a very repetitive and often monotonous reading experience with some quite clumsy phrasing and loads of typos/syntax errors. It really got in the way of what is an incredibly interesting topic, well worth the book-length exploration I thought this would be.
April 26, 2024
I loved this. I’m a journalist too and I’ve become increasingly concerned recently about disinformation and misinformation and this book, although frightening, was a fascinating deep dive. I learned so much. Marianna also writes in a simple and accessible way. It should almost be essential reading for anyone who uses social media…
July 30, 2024
Some very interesting examples of the mess Social Media can cause in society and a good analysis of some of the many causes and effects these platforms and their users are having in daily life.
Not glamorised or sensationalised, some stories you will probably know, some you won't.
Definitely worth reading.
Not glamorised or sensationalised, some stories you will probably know, some you won't.
Definitely worth reading.
October 16, 2024
Really more of a 3.5 star rating.
I quite like Marianna Spring's research and had heard her podcasts so I was a little underwhelmed as most of the book's stories I'd heard about before. Good book though as a sample of various different conspiracy theories that she's encountered and the harmful effects they can have on others.
I quite like Marianna Spring's research and had heard her podcasts so I was a little underwhelmed as most of the book's stories I'd heard about before. Good book though as a sample of various different conspiracy theories that she's encountered and the harmful effects they can have on others.
February 21, 2025
I enjoyed this. It’s very readable and very interesting, and really made me think. I do think that if you’re familiar with Marianna Spring’s podcasts etc. it treads a lot of familiar ground but it was a very thought-provoking read.
Content Notes:
Warnings: .
Content Notes:
Warnings: .
October 21, 2025
For me this book was the same thing that has been said a million times. Nothing new or truly interesting if you have read even a little about conspiracy theories, you know the entire book. I kept expecting the writing to go more in depth about the subject but nope, didn’t feel like it went in a way that I felt I learned a lot about it.
May 30, 2024
An interesting read. The first half of the book covers conspiracy theorists and those who start the stories. The last part of the book was, to me, more interesting as it talked about how the five main social media platforms push stories at people
June 1, 2024
An empathetic look at the world of conspiracy theories and those who fall into the rabbit hole, along with a reminder of the dangers of social media. This was well investigated, but I didn't learn that much new. I found it profoundly depressing though...
March 3, 2025
Absolutely brilliant, exactly what I have been looking for to help gather my thoughts around how to deal, understand and talk to people falling down the conspiracy rabbit hole, now if I can just convince them to read it also!
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