Internet Rabbit Holes
This "encyclopedia anyone can edit" is often the first step into an information rabbit hole.
❓ What is Wikipedia?
This psychological effect is the belief that something you remember from childhood never actually existed.
❓ What is the Mandela Effect?
Jenkins coined this term to describe fans who "steal" from mainstream media to produce their own meaning.
❓ What is textual poaching?
Hadas argues that the rise of digital platforms has reshaped this key figure in media storytelling.
❓ What is the auteur?
deWildt & Aupers argue that conspiracy culture on Reddit is best described with this three-part framework: believing, doubting, and ____.
What is playing?
This term refers to endlessly clicking links and losing track of time online.
❓ What is going down a rabbit hole?
This popular online activity leads many people to believe they have serious illnesses based on minor symptoms.
❓ What is Googling your symptoms? (or What is self-diagnosing online?)
Jenkins studied this TV fandom in depth to examine participatory culture.
❓ What is Star Trek?
This concept refers to when fans feel emotionally invested in creators or public figures they’ve never met.
❓ What is parasocial relationship?
This major online platform is the focus of their research and exemplifies participatory culture in conspiracy discussions.
❓ What is Reddit?
This feature on YouTube suggests videos and is notorious for deep rabbit hole adventures.
❓ What is the algorithm (or "recommended videos")?
This blend word refers to anxiety caused by excessive internet research on health symptoms.
❓ What is cyberchondria?
This term refers to the blending of roles between producer and consumer, a key idea in fan studies.
❓ What is prosumer (or participatory culture)?
In “The Web Planet,” Hadas critiques how modern media turns creators into these public-facing brands.
❓ What are author-brands?
According to the authors, this concept from cultural studies refers to how users mix serious belief with irony or satire
❓ What is play (or "ludic engagement")?
This Reddit forum is known for bizarre and surreal posts—perfect for late-night scrolling.
❓ What is r/DeepIntoYouTube?
This type of AI-based tool offers symptom checkers and diagnoses but may increase anxiety or give false reassurance.
❓ What are medical chatbots (or symptom checkers)?
According to Jenkins, fans challenge this type of top-down narrative control by reinterpreting stories
❓ What is authorial authority (or narrative authority)?
Hadas notes that “cult” status often hinges on this process, where fans mythologize behind-the-scenes creators
❓ What is auteurism? (or mythologization of the creator)
deWildt & Aupers distinguish between believers and these kinds of users, who interact with conspiracy theories critically but still contribute.
❓ What are doubters (or skeptics)?
This long-standing internet project aims to archive the entire web, including rabbit holes from 1996 onward.
❓ What is the Wayback Machine (or Internet Archive)?
Named after a well-known company, this effect describes how reading vague symptoms online can make people falsely believe they’re very sick.
❓ What is the WebMD effect?
Jenkins argues that fan fiction often reworks mainstream texts to explore these often marginalized identities.
❓ What are gender and sexuality (or LGBTQ+ identities)?
This streaming platform and its branding strategies are a case study in how authorship is reshaped in digital storytelling.
❓ What is Netflix?
The authors describe Reddit threads as this kind of space — not purely factual, but not purely fictional either
❓ What is a liminal space? (or a hybrid/ambiguous participatory space)