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Abbie Richards

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Abbie Richards
Personal information
Born1996 (age 27–28)
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Online personality
  • Science communicator
Websitewww.abbiesr.com
Instagram information
Page
Genres
  • Science communication
  • Anti-conspiracy

Abbie Richards (born 1996) is a misinformation educator[citation needed] and environmental activist whose conspiracy theory charts went viral on Twitter in 2020 and 2021. Richards was included on Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2023, in the category of Consumer Technology.[1]

Early life and education

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Richards was born in 1996 and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts.[2][3] She graduated from Colorado College with a degree in environmental science, and in 2022 she graduated with a masters in climate studies from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.[2][3][4]

Social media career

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Environmental activism

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Richards is a member of EcoTok, a TikTok collective which focuses on creating environmentalist content.[5][1] Richards began posting criticism of golf and golf courses on TikTok after running past a golf course in the spring of 2020 and noticing the course's "no trespassing" signs.[2][3] She told The Daily Dot that "the privatization of green spaces, especially during a pandemic when people need to maximize their distance from one another, made me furious."[3] In January 2021, Richards published an op-ed about golf in Euronews Living.[6]

Misinformation education

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In 2020, Richards created an inverted pyramid chart assessing conspiracy theories from "Grounded in Reality" to "Detached from Reality", which according to journalist David Farrier "went bonkers on Twitter".[7][8][9] In 2021, Richards created an updated version of the chart that went viral.[10][11][12]

Richards has created TikToks on and spoken to news outlets about misinformation and conspiracy theories on the app,[13] such as videos promoting QAnon and other antisemitic conspiracy theories,[14][15] or misleading videos of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[16][17][18]

TikTok research

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Richards has conducted research on TikTok and its algorithm.[19] One of her reports describes pervasive white supremacist content on the app.[20][21]

Personal life

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As of February 2022, Richards resides in Boston.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Abbie Richards". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  2. ^ a b c Martinelli, Michelle (2020-08-03). "Meet TikTok's viral environmentalist 'anti-golf girl' who argues against golf courses". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  3. ^ a b c d Schroeder, Audra (2020-06-04). "Meet the woman who is trying to cancel golf on TikTok". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  4. ^ "About". Abbie Richards. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  5. ^ "Our Team". EcoTok. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  6. ^ Richards, Abbie (9 January 2021). "Golf is a giant board game damaging the planet: Time for it to go". Euronews Living. Euronews. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  7. ^ Farrier, David. "I talk to the creator of the Conspiracy Chart". Webworm. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  8. ^ "Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?". Brut. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  9. ^ Myrman, Dan (6 January 2021). "Abbie Richards & The Inverted Conspiracy Pyramid". Podcasts.nu (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  10. ^ Larson, Shannon (2021-11-29). "This chart on conspiracy theories has gone viral. A local disinformation researcher breaks down what to know". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2021-11-29. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
  11. ^ "Conspiracy theories are everywhere and people don't understand how harmful they are". Twitter.com. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  12. ^ a b Tauber, Rebecca (2022-02-09). "Abbie Richards fights TikTok disinformation with a cup of tea, a conspiracy chart and a punchline". GBH. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  13. ^ Raphael, Rina (2022-06-29). "TikTok Is Flooded With Health Myths. These Creators Are Pushing Back". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  14. ^ "Unpaid Fact-Checkers Are Getting Burnout From Debunking So Many Nazis on TikTok". www.vice.com. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  15. ^ Wong, Jessica (3 November 2022). "Antisemitic conspiracies are rampant online. Students, experts share how to combat them". CBC. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  16. ^ Richards, Abbie (25 February 2022). "TikTok is facilitating the spread of misinformation surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine". Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  17. ^ "TikTok sees a surge of misleading videos that claim to show the invasion of Ukraine". NPR. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  18. ^ Tenbarge, Kat; Collins, Ben (25 February 2022). "Video games and fake livestreams: War in Ukraine sparks new wave of misinformation". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  19. ^ "How TikTok swept the internet". The Washington Post. 14 October 2022.
  20. ^ Richards, Abbie (18 July 2022). "Examining White Supremacist and Militant Accelerationism Trends on TikTok". GNET. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  21. ^ Press-Reynolds, Kieran. "TikTok could serve as an 'amplifier of hateful ideologies,' according to new report analyzing Buffalo shooter's beliefs". Insider. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
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