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The original was posted on /r/conspiracytheories by /u/leahkj3 on 2024-01-22 16:07:24+00:00.

Posting this for one of my students:

In a Senior Independent Study Project at my school, I researched conspiracy theories to eventually create something based off that research. I thought of spreading a harmless rumor through my school and then collecting data about it. The rumor was that our principal was removing lockers over winter break, and replacing them with cubbies. I started spreading it with the help of some people in my class over the course of one week. I told some people myself and left the rest up to the rumor spreading the way I expected it to. Below is the data I collected:

89% heard the rumor 63% believed the rumor 11% were neutral about it 53% were angry about it 21% spread the rumor One person told the rumor back to me (forgot their source of information) I also found that students in my school that were genuinely thought to have a higher authority when it came to knowing information about the school, were more likely to be believed and receive a reaction, as well as any teachers who got involved with helping me spread it.

I’m wondering if there is anything any of you think I should have done differently, or if there were other results you were expecting.