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overview and analysis of the members of the 9/11 Truth movement community.
The authors find that the people involved in this movement, which seemingly is a disparate group with very diversified backgrounds, could be classified into three groups.
Hardcore: The organizers and active members of the various 9/11 truth movement organizations. While they claim to be only interested in facts and to use scientific method, they commit the logical fallacy of confirmation bias by pre-determining the outcome, then searching for corroborating evidence while ignoring the vast body of peer-reviewed, independent, consensual research which contradict their theories.
Critically turned: They are the political activists affiliated with the 9/11 truth movement
Illiterati: They are the movement’s mass membership backbone, a large, diffuse group which give the movement exaggerated claims of popularity and influence. Participation in the 9/11 truth movement, to this group of people, is as much a social and recreational pursuit as the quest for truth. Their partaking is mostly through web 2.0 social networking and hits on the YouTube video. Their commentaries often are emotional and they make no pretense to be accurate, balanced or to show genuine intent to find truth. Involvement with the movement that fit their worldview gives them a sense of identity and belonging, which they find more appealing than the facts and evidences of the 9/11 terrorist attack itself
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