It's frowned upon to spread conspiracy theories.
Kyle hears a friend at school strongly defending their opinion that the Earth is flat.
Kyle wants to gain his friend's approval.
Kyle looks up information online and has a civil conversation with his friend about what he read.
Kyle decides to tell others that the Earth is flat when his friend is around and uses his friend's arguments when doing so.
Kyle is able to convince his friend that his information makes sense and his friend sees him as smart.
Kyle starts to gain a reputation at school for spreading untrustworthy information.