Rationalizing Ignorance and the No New Normal Community: Mythology, Sense of Community, and Conspiracy Theories

Abstract

This study researched the themes of Campbell’s (1988) third (sociological) and fourth (pedagogical) functions of mythology and sense of community theory on the anti-mask subreddit: No New Normal. Users of the No New Normal subreddit, posited that they lived in a different reality from those that chose to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines during the 2020/2021 COVID-19 pandemic. A digital ethnography, over an eleven-month period, analyzed and catalogued 838 user comments and posts revealing that mythological functions underpinned their arguments and strengthened a belief that they were quickly approaching a dystopian future with those that chose to wear a mask as the enemy. Furthermore, posts from the group revealed a community, as defined by the sense of community, that was especially pronounced as elements of membership.