Everyone has their doubts. In what world do people believe every single thing they are told? Perhaps the toxicity of doubt is what makes them so popular.
Commonly referred to as “Instagram’s Biggest Mystery,” the Instagram account @lilmiquela is a huge source of widespread confusion. At first glance, Lil Miquela seems like a normal girl trying to make it big in the entertainment industry. However, it is clear to see that something about her just doesn’t seem real; her face is a little too smooth, her eyes are a little too clear, and her makeup is a little too perfect. It becomes obvious why some people believe that what seems to some like a perfectly normal girl is actually a computer-generated person.
There are many theories concerning Lil Miquela and her true identity. Miquela frequently does ad campaigns for big name brands such as Pat McGrath and poses for popular magazines such as Paper. These campaigns make people think that Miquela has been created by a company to publicize brands on her Instagram account. Some people even think that the popular computer game, The Sims, created Miquela in order to promote their game.
Another popular theory is that Miquela is the alter ego of another Instagrammer. Theorists claim that whoever is behind Lil Miquela created her so that they could live a normal life but still pursue their dream of becoming a popular musical artist. People have gone into the depths of Instagram to find girls who resemble Lil Miquela, but so far no one has claimed to be her. Miquela has yet to make any live appearances, so it is impossible to know who she is.
Miquela is continuing to produce and promote her music on her Instagram. Her identity has become the center of modern conspiracy theories, but only time will tell her story.
One of the most popular conspiracy theories concerns the Illuminati, which has become the source of countless memes and the topic of numerous conspiracy theories. However, the Illuminati dates back to 1776 when it was founded by German law professor Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria in effort to limit the role of the Church in society. The group was incredibly secretive, and members were more like revolutionaries than world leaders in that they sought to infiltrate and upset powerful institutions like the monarchy. The Illuminati was stamped out in a government crackdown on secret societies in the 1780s, but it has always been rumored to have survived.
The Illuminati is often referred to in a joking manner, but there are certainly people who believe it to be real. One of the most surprising ideas is that this organization was involved in Michael Jackson’s death. Conspiracy theorists claim that the Illuminati was behind Michael’s drug overdose and that he thought someone was after him.
In late 2013, Robert Connors, a man who claimed to have worked for the Department of Defense, leaked what he says is Michael Jackson’s final phone call before he died. Before the recording and transcript of the call begins, the black screen is filled with words that read, “Recorded the night prior to Jackson’s Homicide, many high-level officials have gone to great lengths to keep this recording hidden from the public. I received the audio from a trusted source in the department.” During the call, in which Jackson is allegedly talking with his manager, Jackson claims that “there may be a group of people…they want to get rid of me” and even says that “they could frame me and say I overdosed on drugs.” Jackson ends the call by saying, “It’s not the government. It’s more than the government.” So, the questions remain: Is this phone call real? Is it fake? Was someone actually after Michael Jackson, or was he just paranoid? For now, it is impossible to tell.
The tragic shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 14, 2018 has produced many stories. Perhaps the most problematic is the suggestion that “crisis actors” were hired to pose as students affected by the shooting. A Facebook post that was shared more than 111,000 times claimed that a student interviewed after the Parkland shooting was also interviewed in Los Angeles after a confrontation between a surfer and a lifeguard. However, the notion of “crisis actors” is not unique to the Parkland shooting. Crisis actors are used to train first responders on how to handle emergency situations. Starting after the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, conspiracy theorists began to report that the shooting was faked and the people affected were crisis actors. Crisis actor theories circulated around the Orlando nightclub shooting and the Boston marathon bombing, showing that this theory is not unique to the Stoneman Douglas shooting.
