INFLUENCE

The Internet empowers everyone to find a like-minded community online. It also facilitates misinformation and conspiracy thinking at breakneck speeds. QAnon, the belief that government insiders have foretold the Biblical cleansing of liberals, has morphed from a handful of conspiracy theories on 8chan to a full-blown cult that is tearing families apart.In response, the Internet has birthed support groups like r/QAnonCasualties, where people can share their stories and get advice on how to help family members obsessed with Q. It also contains the cautionary tales of former Q believers who found a way out.In this special 4-part episode, Alli and Jen learn about the QAnon phenomenon, and what people can do to help loved ones unplug and escape from cult behavior. Mike Rothschild, a journalist with The Daily Dot who has covered QAnon extensively. Mike explains its origins, evolution, and just how deep the Q rabbit hole goes (yes, aliens). Mia, a woman who rebooted her life after her ex-husband became obsessed with Q. Jitarth Jadeja, a former QAnon believer who left the cult after a lot of reflection and mental health support. Rick Alan Ross, a cult deprogrammer, anti-cult activist, and author who has been helping families with cult intervention for decades. Read more about QAnon Casualties: https://www.dailydot.com/debug/reddit-qanon-casualties/The Cult Education Institute: https://www.culteducation.com/Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're working on something big for next week, so here's another one of our favorite encore episodes from back in the day.Original Notes:If you've ever sought a soundtrack for your home movies that wouldn't get removed by YouTube, chances are you've come across Kevin MacLeod's music. He's composed thousands of original tracks, in every imaginable genre, that he gives away under a Creative Commons license, on a variety of platforms, absolutely free. His music has been used in commercials, films, video games, and an uncountable number of YouTube videos and podcasts without any compensation. So, how does Kevin feed himself? Alli and Jen untangle the livelihood of the internet's most prolific composer and Creative Commons pioneer.Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matty Benedetto is a product designer by training, but his sense of humor led him to a life of hilarious content creation instead.Benedetto builds Unnecessary Inventions, ingenious products that solve urgent problems you don’t actually have — like a drink holder for your shoe, or an alarm clock that snoozes itself so you won’t be bothered in the morning. His fake products (and their crisp photos and videos) are so popular that he’s garnered 4 million followers across social media, and a vast community of invention enthusiasts who either really want to buy these ridiculous items, or can’t stop suggesting bad inventions. Alli and Jen talk to Benedetto about where his weekly inspiration comes from, why it’s so hard to think of a problem that doesn’t exist, and what happens when real brands get involved in the fake product business.https://www.unnecessaryinventions.com/https://www.instagram.com/unnecessaryinventions/Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Global K-pop music sensation BTS’ charity efforts with Unicef and other foundations has empowered fans to make positive change in the world.The BTS fandom is known as an “ARMY,” and the global volunteer collective One In an ARMY has become an engine of charitable giving, cause awareness, and social change.When One In an ARMY mobilizes for a cause, K-pop stans flood social media with micro-donations and hashtags, raising thousands of dollars for the Syrian refugee crisis, Iraqi civilians, coral reef preservation, and the Black Lives Matter movement.In all, they’ve raised more than $2 million for “actionable causes” — organizations that turn donations into tangible results. The fandom is so powerful that it often overwhelms charitable organizations, breaks non-profit websites (in a good way!), and swoops in to solve problems even governments are unable (or unwilling) to address.This week, Alli and Jen talk with Erika, an admin from One In an ARMY, about how a fan community became a massive non-profit operation, and why the BTS singers themselves are key in turning their fandom toward important causes.One In An ARMY: https://www.oneinanarmy.org/upport 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While traveling alone in Mexico, Amanda Black was robbed. She felt violated, scared, and didn't know where to turn in a foreign county with no friends or family. That's when she realized the need for an online support network -- a place where women traveling alone can get advice, and in some cases, urgent help.She founded the Solo Female Traveler Network in 2016, and thousands of women joined immediately, sharing similar stories of vulnerability. Today, the Facebook group and website count more than 420,000 members, and it's become a place of empowerment for women traveling the globe.Alli and Jen talk to Black about the unique challenges women face when traveling, the discouraging responses from friends and family when women decide to travel, and some amazing stories of how this online community saved the day in an IRL crisis.https://thesolofemaletravelernetwork.com/Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Email, texting, and social media have made our world smaller. But have we lost something in the age of instant messages?Maksim Jovovic created the website Get A Pen Pal, a place to match with someone interesting from anywhere in the world and engage in slow, deliberate letter-writing. Sure, the communication is still digital, but these "letters" take days to go back and forth, use collectible stamps, and encourage rich communication, rather than just, "sup?"Alli and Jen ask Jovovic about his inspiration for the site, the community that's growing there, and why now is the perfect time to rekindle the magic of corresponding with pen pals.https://www.getapenpal.net/Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Online communities (sometimes the only communities we have during a pandemic) can be magical places. Friendships forged, insights shared, and fun had by all. They can also become toxic, shouty cesspools. Why do some succeed while others devolve into chaos?Alli and Jen talk with Anika Gupta, a journalist who studied online community structures for her book How to Handle a Crowd: The Art of Creating Healthy and Dynamic Online Communities.Gupta shares the key to healthy moderation, the social norms of different platforms, why scale makes things complicated, and what online platforms can do to help communities thrive and protect vulnerable members.Follow Anika: https://twitter.com/digitalanikaGet the Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Handle-Crowd-Creating-Communities/dp/1982132310Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode was originally published on August 20, 2018 (2 years ago, whoa!)For countless historical and social reasons, most of the people editing Wikipedia are white men. This has led to broad bias across the world's de facto repository of online knowledge. But a loose affiliation of women are making up the ground by writing and editing the biographies of historically significant women and minorities who might otherwise be overlooked by academic or popular culture. Alli and Jen speak with Rosie Stephenson Goodknight, a lauded Wikipedian with more than 4000 articles to her credit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alli and Jen speak with Jason Marshall, a veteran player of the MMO 'EVE Online' about the game's 15-year-old player-run space graveyard.The Molea cemetery has been operating since 2004, and not only contains the frozen corpses of killed space pilots, but graves that mark the deaths of lost loved ones in real life — friends, family members, pets, and other players.In June of this year, the developers of 'EVE' formally recognized this player accomplishment by adding a massive, permanent memorial to the system. Marshall explains how the cemetery got started, why players care so much about transporting their clone corpses to virtual graves, how the team fended off attacks from the notorious Goonswarm Alliance, and the first time a player requested a grave for a real person.Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all use Wikipedia on a daily basis, but do you really know how humanity’s largest organized body of knowledge gets made? Alli and Jen talk with Bill Beutler, a longtime Wikipedia editor and the author of The Wikipedian, a blog about Wikipedia culture. He’s also the CEO of Beutler Ink, a consultancy which advises clients and public figures on the ethical way to address inaccuracies on Wikipedia.Beutler explains the dynamic and rigorous process that happens behind the scenes of controversial Wikipedia articles, how Wikipedians are handling information about COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter, the ever-present specter of bias, and how the entire Internet would be different if Wikipedia operated as a for-profit company.The Wikipedian: http://thewikipedian.net/Beutler Ink: https://www.beutlerink.com/Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices