Identity of Q The Q
persona is claimed to be that of a well-connected individual with access to highly sensitive government information, who put themself at risk by disclosing the information online. Q used a calm, authoritative tone, rarely interacted with other posters, and never argued with those who disagreed with their claims. In 2021,
Bellingcat analyzed several little-known posts published by Q during the days that followed the first "drops". While containing text identical to later messages unambiguously authored by Q, these also showed Q being "out of character" and behaving in a manner similar to 4chan's other anonymous posters.
Bellingcat's theory is that the author of these messages had not yet perfected the Q persona and was still settling into the voice of their
online alter ego, which implies that Q was originally one 4chan poster among many instead of a powerful government insider. Q's motives and identity have been the subject of much speculation and assumptions, both among QAnon followers and critics. Hypotheses on Q's identity have included a military intelligence officer,
Stephen Miller, or a left-wing artist collective (emulating another collective,
Luther Blissett, that authored a novel titled
Q) playing an elaborate
prank on right-wing online culture.
Multiple people By 2020, it became accepted among researchers that the pseudonymous entity known as Q has been controlled by multiple people in cooperation. A
stylometric analysis has suggested that two people likely wrote Q's posts, and that their "distinct signatures clearly correspond to separate periods in time and different online forums". An analysis of
metadata of images posted by Q found that they were likely posted by someone in the
Pacific Time Zone. By design, anonymous
imageboards such as 4chan and 8chan obscure their posters' identities. Those who wish to prove a consistent identity between posts while remaining anonymous can use a
tripcode, which associates a post with a unique digital signature for any poster who knows the password. When 8chan returned as 8kun in November 2019 after several months of downtime, the Q posting on 8kun posted photos of a pen and notebook that had been pictured in earlier 8chan posts to show the continuation of the Q identity, and continued to use Q's 8chan tripcode. He later said that "If [Jim Watkins is] not 'Q' himself, he can find out who 'Q' is at any time. And he's pretty much the only person in the world that can have private contact with 'Q'." In September 2020, Brennan speculated that the Q account was initially run by another person, with Jim and Ron Watkins taking over in late 2017 a 4chan and 8chan moderator and one of the first online commentators to promote QAnon. and, due to the nature of tripcodes, Hoback viewed this as an inadvertent admission by Watkins, and concluded from this interview and his other research that Watkins is Q. Watkins again denied being Q shortly before the series premiered. On February 19, 2022,
The New York Times reported that analysis of the Q posts by two independent
forensic linguistics teams using
stylometry techniques indicated that Paul Furber was the main author of the initial Q posts, and Ron Watkins took over at the start of 2018. The change seems to have occurred after Q moved from 4chan to 8chan. At the time, Furber had complained that Q had been "hijacked" and that Ron Watkins was complicit. Furber responded to inquiries by saying that Q's writing style had influenced his own, not the other way around.
Slogans and vocabulary '', painted on an
SUV The spread of QAnon has been accompanied by a series of
slogans,
catchphrases,
buzzwords and
hashtags that helped boost its popularity and online presence. Terms like
the cabal or
the Storm, and Q's recurring phrases like "Trust the plan" or "Enjoy the show" are among the most popular. "Great Awakening" (the point at which the public wakes up to the truth), "
red pill" ("taking the red pill" means achieving QAnon awareness), or "
sheeple" (a disparaging term for people who believe the mainstream media narrative). "17anon" has sometimes been used as an alternative spelling of QAnon (Q being the 17th letter of the alphabet) and a way of circumventing social media algorithms. As it incorporates elements from many other conspiracy theories, QAnon displays similarities with previous narratives, imagery and
moral panics, whether political or religious in nature. In
Salon, Matthew Rozsa wrote that QAnon may best be understood as an example of what historian
Richard Hofstadter called "
The Paranoid Style in American Politics", the title of his 1964 essay on
religious millenarianism and
apocalypticism. QAnon has some resemblance to the
Satanic panic of the 1980s, when
hundreds of daycare workers were falsely accused of abusing children.
Apocalypticism and Millenarianism QAnon's "explicitly Christian" vocabulary echoes longstanding Christian theological and eschatological traditions, particularly those rooted in
apocalypticism and
millenarian expectations. Central to QAnon's narrative are concepts such as the "Storm" (the
Genesis flood narrative or
Judgment Day), the "Great Awakening" (evoking the reputed historical religious
Great Awakenings of the early 18th century to the late 20th century), and an emphasis on
prophecy, The apocalyptic stories are seen by Christians as fictional depictions of real future events, giving them real-world significance. "QAnon is, in effect, one part
Frank Peretti spiritual warfare, one part
Left Behind series apocalypticism, and one part
Elders of Zion antisemitic conspiracy theory, packaged together in a tantalizing, self-involving variation on
Celebrity Apprentice reality television and social media", writes one scholar.
The hidden enemy A central element of QAnon's worldview is the belief in a hidden, malevolent force controlling society. This concept echoes medieval anxieties, such as fears surrounding
witchcraft,
secret societies, and demonic conspiracies blamed for societal ills. In particular, it closely mirrors accusations from texts like the
Malleus Maleficarum, which claimed that witches secretly conspired with
Satan to corrupt society from within. QAnon further incorporates themes from early-Christian
Gnosticism, particularly the idea that the true nature of the world is hidden and accessible only to those with special insight or "
gnosis". QAnon adherents similarly see themselves as uniquely able to discern the secret evil manipulating events behind the scenes. These accusations drew from earlier antisemitic conspiracies like the medieval
blood libel, which falsely accused Jewish communities of murdering children for ritualistic purposes. Similarly, QAnon claims a secret global elite actively performs satanic rituals, including child sacrifice and "
adrenochrome" harvesting—echoing both
medieval witch-hunts and more recent moral panics, such as the
Satanic Panic of the 1980s, which involved widespread allegations of ritual Satanic abuse, often derived from claims made during the controversial Recovered Memory movement of the 1990s. Although distinct phenomena, both panics similarly depicted their subjects as actively worshiping evil and collaborating with demonic forces, fueling a climate of fear and suspicion. Historian
Niall Ferguson notes that such narratives of hidden evil frequently emerge during societal instability, providing emotionally powerful scapegoats to simplify complex crises.
Ethan Zuckerman and Mike McQuade have argued that QAnon "is more anti-elite than explicitly anti-Semitic". A
Jewish Telegraphic Agency article in August 2018 asserted: "Some of QAnon's archetypical elements—including secret elites and kidnapped children, among others—are reflective of historical and ongoing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories." QAnon's
adrenochrome-harvesting claims have been linked to
blood libel by the followers (who believe in the truthfulness of both) and researchers of QAnon. Blood libel is a
medieval antisemitic myth that says Jewish people murder Christian children and use their blood to make
matzo for
Passover. In February 2022, social media users shared images of a sculpture of
Simon of Trent, whose death was falsely blamed on the town's Jewish population, as evidence that elites harvest adrenochrome from children's blood. Genocide scholar
Gregory Stanton has called QAnon a "
Nazi cult rebranded" and a new version of
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated antisemitic text published in 1903, deriving from
antisemitic canards. Republican QAnon follower Mary Ann Mendoza was noted for her reference to the antisemitic text when she retweeted a Twitter thread about the
Rothschild family, Satanic High Priestesses, and American presidents saying, "
The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion is not a fabrication. And, it certainly is not anti-Semitic to point out this fact." An April 2021
Morning Consult poll found that 49% of Americans who believe in QAnon agree with the
Protocols, and that 78% of Americans who agree with the
Protocols also believe in QAnon. In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League reported that
neo-Nazis were exploiting the absence of leadership among QAnon adherents on
Telegram to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories. QAnon conspiracy theorists have promoted
Europa: The Last Battle, a neo-Nazi propaganda film which promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories, including
Holocaust denial. They have also promoted content from
Disclose.tv, a German disinformation outlet with a following that includes Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis. QAnon virtual communities have little "real world" connection with each other, but online they can number in the tens of thousands. QAnon's cultish quality has led to its characterization as a possible
emerging religious movement. It has also been called a
syncretic movement. , also known as "QAnon Shaman", a prominent proponent of QAnon and stormer at the
U.S. Capitol attack, carrying a "Q Sent Me" placard Travis View, a researcher who studies QAnon, says that it is as addictive as a video game, and offers the "player" the possibility of being involved in something of world-historical importance. According to View, "You can sit at your computer and search for information and then post about what you find, and Q basically promises that through this process, you are going to radically change the country, institute this incredible, almost bloodless revolution, and then be part of this historical movement that will be written about for generations." View compares this to mundane political involvement in which one's efforts might help to get a state legislator elected. QAnon, says View, competes not in the marketplace of ideas, but in the marketplace of realities. The belief in "The Plan" that Q alleged was in place to defeat the deep state and the cabal boosted the confidence of QAnon followers, who were told that things were happening behind the scenes and that victory would inevitably follow if they trusted Trump and the secret plan. Some followers used a "Q clock" consisting of a wheel of concentric dials to decode clues based on the timing of Q's posts and Trump's tweets. Scholar
Mia Bloom describes it as "unique among conspiracy theories in its ability to mutate and adapt to its environment," stating "[i]t has successfully absorbed local grievances abroad and takes on whatever local issues are central". She also argues that QAnon's acceptance of movements such as vaccine skepticism have helped it spread into unexpected demographics that share those commonalities. Survey data showed in late 2020 that a quarter of those who knew about QAnon thought there was some truth to it. In a conspiracy theory environment, primary institutions of society that once served as trusted impartial authorities are easily rejected if they contradict the theory, making it difficult to counter the thinking of QAnon followers.
Disillusionment Travis View says: People in the QAnon community often talk about alienation from family and friends.... Though they typically talk about how Q frayed their relationships on private Facebook groups. But they think these issues are temporary and primarily the fault of others. They often comfort themselves by imagining that there will be a moment of vindication sometime in the near future which will prove their beliefs right. They imagine that after this happens, not only will their relationships be restored, but people will turn to them as leaders who understand what's going on better than the rest of us. Disillusionment can also come from the failure of the theories' predictions. Q predicted Republican success in the
2018 US midterm elections and claimed that
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was involved in secret work for Trump and that despite outward tension, the two were allies. When Democrats made significant gains and Trump fired Sessions, many in the Q community were disillusioned. Further disillusionment came when a predicted December5 mass arrest and imprisonment in
Guantanamo Bay detention camp of Trump's enemies did not occur, nor did the dismissal of charges against Trump's former national security advisor
Michael Flynn. For some, these failures began a separation from QAnon, while others urged
direct action in the form of an insurrection. Psychologist
Robert Lifton said such a response to a failed prophecy is not unusual: apocalyptic cults such as
Heaven's Gate, the
People's Temple, the
Manson Family, and
Aum Shinrikyo resorted to
mass suicide or
mass murder when their expectations did not materialize. Lifton called this "forcing the end". In February 2019,
Liz Crokin said that she was losing patience waiting for Trump to arrest the supposed members of the child sex ring, and warned that people might conduct "vigilante justice".
Demographics According to an August 2018
Qualtrics poll for
The Washington Post, 58% of Floridians were familiar enough with QAnon to have an opinion about it. Of those who had an opinion, most were unfavorable. The average score on the
feeling thermometer was just above 20, a very negative rating, and about half of what other political figures enjoy. Positive feelings toward QAnon were strongly correlated with susceptibility to conspiracy thinking. The survey showed 39% of those identifying as liberal democrats knew a little or more about Qanon while only 18% of people who were republican or leaned republican reported knowing a little or more about Qanon. In September 2020, a Pew survey of the 47% of respondents who said they had heard of QAnon found that 41% of Republicans and those who lean Republican believed QAnon was good for the country, compared to 7% of Democrats and those who lean Democratic. An October 2020
Yahoo-
YouGov poll found that even if they had not heard of QAnon, a majority of Republicans and Trump supporters believed top Democrats were engaged in sex-trafficking rings and more than half of Trump supporters believed he was working to dismantle the rings. In February 2021, an
American Enterprise Institute poll found that 29% of Republicans believe the central claim of QAnon, that "Donald Trump has been secretly fighting a group of child sex traffickers that include prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites." A March 2021
Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and
Interfaith Youth Core survey found similar results: Republicans (28%) were twice as likely as Democrats (14%) to agree that the "elites" would soon be swept from power by a coming "storm"; Republicans (23%) were three times as likely as Democrats (8%) to agree that "Satan-worshipping pedophiles" control the government and media; and Republicans (28%) were four times as likely as Democrats (7%) to agree that "true American patriots may have to resort to violence" to resolve the situation. Surveys have found that conspiracy theories such as QAnon are most popular among
white Americans, especially
evangelicals. A May 2021 PRRI survey confirmed that white evangelicals are among QAnon's strongest supporters, but also found that
Hispanic Protestants are drawn to the movement in even larger proportions. According to the PRRI's figures, the core QAnon belief that global elites form a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles and child sex traffickers is held in the U.S. by 26% of Hispanic Protestants, 25% of White evangelical Protestants, 24% of other Protestants
of color, 18% of
Mormons, 16% of Hispanic
Catholics, 14% of
African American Protestants, 14% of other Christians, 13% of non-Christian religious people, 11% of White Catholics, 11% of
religiously unaffiliated people, 10% of white
mainline Protestants, and 8% of Jews. In 2024, another poll conduced by PPRI found that 19% of Americans believed in the core theories associated with QAnon, up from 14% in 2021, and that the number rose to 32% among Trump-supporting Republicans. is a collection of techniques aimed predominantly at indoctrinating women into the conspiracy theory, mainly on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and YouTube. It co-opts the aesthetics and language of
social media influencers, often using personal anecdotes and gateway issues (i.e. child sex-trafficking) to frame QAnon beliefs as reasonable.
Post-2020 election After Trump lost the
2020 election, the rate of Q's posts sharply declined Mike Rothschild, author of a book on QAnon, said in 2021 that he doubted Q would ever come back, as the movement had "outgrown the need for new drops" and Trump's election loss had invalidated the core QAnon prophecy, but he added that Q might resume posting if "the community really needed new drops to keep it moving forward". According to a book on the psychology of QAnon followers,
Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon, "The inauguration was a particularly difficult prophecy to get wrong, and the result has been that some QAnon believers experienced
deep melancholy,
suicidal ideation, or engaged in
self-harm". On inauguration day,
Ron Watkins wrote in a message board post: "We gave it our all, now we need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able. We have a new president sworn in and it is our responsibility to respect the Constitution." Other QAnon followers believed Biden's inauguration was "part of the plan". In a leaked conversation, Michael Flynn, once among the highest-profile QAnon supporters, called it a "disinformation campaign to make people look like a bunch of kooks", suggesting that it might have been conducted by "the Left" or the CIA. After Biden's inauguration, analysts expressed concern that the disillusionment could lead hardline QAnon adherents to be recruited by groups such as the
alt-right,
white nationalists or
neo-Nazis. Set up by German artist Sebastian Bieniek, the network (described as a
new religion or cult) shares QAnon beliefs but also believes in a leader-prophet, Sabmyk, who will lead humanity's "awakening". The post claimed that
Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified at the
sixth public hearing on the January 6 Attack, was involved in a plot to disparage Trump. Other Q posts were published in 2022, notably one suggesting that the
midterm elections would be rigged, but these messages received much less engagement than previous "drops". An article in
Vice News suggested that this showed the QAnon movement had "moved past requiring new Q drops to bolster itself": journalists Mack Lamoureux and David Gilbert commented that during Q's absence, the QAnon community had continued formulating theories and other influencers had "stepped into the power vacuum". As a result, conspiracy theories had continued influencing public discourse, while conservative politics and media became infused with a "more watered-down version of QAnon". As of 2024, QAnon adherents are still active online. They rejoiced at
Donald Trump's return to power. According to Mike Rothschild, even though there seems to be less interest than before in content analyzing Q's "drops", ideas that QAnon helped popularize, such as the need to confront an evil "
deep state" or
anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, have become commonplace on the right. Rothschild commented that "QAnon as a movement based around secret codes and clues and riddles doesn't so much exist anymore. But it doesn't need to exist anymore because its tenets have become such a major part of mainstream conservatism and such a big part of the base of people that reelected Donald Trump". == Incidents ==