social media


Opinion: The International Spread of QAnon

QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against President Donald Trump, who is tirelessly fighting the cabal. The Pew Research Center has shown that Americans’ awareness of QAnon has doubled from 23 percent to 47 percent from March until September.

Social Media

Social media disinformation tactics that attempted to deceive Arizonans in the 2020 elections

As Americans watch election results trickle in, voters have taken to social media to share their confusion and anxiety, and have often been met with lies and misinformation. The heightened spread of disinformation over social media can have negative consequences on America’s democracy, according to Scott Ruston, a research scientist with Arizona State University’s Knowledge


Hobbs learns Sharpie ballot rumor, like marker’s ink, is hard to erase

Voter intimidation, Russian hacking, stolen ballots and, now, Sharpies. The popular marker has been cited in social media claims as part of a clever strategy to invalidate ballots by using Sharpies, because their ink reportedly cannot be detected by ballot scanning machines. That claim has since been picked up by at least two Arizona elected


Claim that Sharpie pens ruin Arizona ballots misses the mark

As states across the U.S. release vote totals for the presidential election, some social media users are falsely claiming that ballots are being invalidated in Arizona. The supposed culprit: Sharpie markers. In what’s come to be known as #Sharpiegate, social media posts suggest that election officials in Maricopa County provided voters with Sharpie pens, which


Opinion: Why Are We So POLARIZED?!?

Which way are we headed, politically, and why are we so polarized? My first political memory is from age six — Election Night 1960. (I was irritated at being sent to bed before the winner was known.) Twelve years later, at age 18, energized by the ongoing collapse of segregation in my home state of

Scroll to Top