Really really interesting book that kept me hooked with its contents, and I couldn’t keep away from it. I love books like this

The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Ball is a fascinating, meticulously researched journey into the bowels of the internet in an effort to explain how the QAnon movement went from a niche tangle of conspiracy theories to what Ball calls 'the first digital pandemic.'

Ball's book is incredibly detailed. He assumes many readers will have very little prior knowledge about QAnon and is careful to explain all the key concepts one needs to understand in order to wrap one's head around how the movement exploded - from the origins of the 4chan forum where 'Q' first materialised to the way social media algorithms work to allow conspiracy theories to metastasise. He takes a deep dive into the history of blood libel, one of world's longest-standing conspiracy theories, and unpacks how it mutated and evolved to become #pizzagate and #savethechildren thanks to the emergence of the internet.

Interestingly, the author was himself an active member of the 4chan site as a teenager and young adult, making him uniquely placed to offer insight on its content and community, and how it evolved from a 'fast-moving, nihilistic place that's all about 'the lulz'' to something far more sinister. I was intrigued to learn how this offshoot of 00s 'lad culture' (4chan originated rickrolling and lolcats and was initially known for mass trolling through annoying and immature - but essentially harmless - pranks) came to be inextricably linked to real-life violence, injury and death, and Ball adeptly illustrates how its evolution helps us to track the shifting social and political landscape, in the United States but also elsewhere.

Ball explores the ways in which mainstream media, social media and governments have contributed to QAnon ideas being allowed to flourish unchecked and gain wider appeal, by underestimating the popular appeal of what - to many - were totally wild ideas, for example, that not only was the world being run by a cabal of elites embroiled in child sexual exploitation but that Donald Trump was masterminding a counter movement.

He offers a thoughtful, considered explanation for why QAnon took hold in the way that it did at a particular moment in history: Q first posted on 4chan in the first year of Trump's presidency, a time when disillusionment with the status quo had driven many Americans to vote for a man whom they viewed as the anti-establishment candidate, and the QAnon movement really took hold globally during the Covid-19 pandemic. Particularly thought-provoking is the idea that, for many QAnon stalwarts, the thing that unites them is a feeling of isolation from society; thus, it makes a lot of sense that during prolonged periods of government-enforced isolation during lockdown, the desire for community and being understood would be heightened.

The book explores how QAnon tapped into popular anti-government sentiment and evolved its agenda, which has always been fluid, to react to popular ideas. By using the language of a pandemic, something we are all too familiar with at this point, Ball is able to stress how contagious and dangerous fringe ideas can be thanks to the internet allowing people to find others who agree with - or are open to - what they are saying.

As the book progresses, some ideas - such as cognitive dissonance - are explained more than once, and some information and anecdotes are repeated. The book is also incredibly (though unavoidably) dense, and the ideas it is explaining are often so convoluted and preposterous that it can make for difficult reading. However, overall it is a comprehensive, compelling look at the origins of QAnon and its corrosive effect on society.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

A really really good look into the world of Q-Anon. It's kind of become a weird obsession for me - the idea that such an absurd idea became so big and so ardently followed by people all over the world.

I've read a few other books on conspiracies and more specifically Q-Anon, and found Ball's 'The Other Pandemic' to be the most cohesive and detailed of the lot. While most of us will undoubtedly know 'The Storm is Upon Us' and other such catchphrases, and the general gist of the movement, Ball's examination of its origins on 4chan and the climate of the internet fringes after GamerGate really gives a more rounded view of a conspiracy that lends itself so much to wider rhetoric and discourse.

For anyone wanting a deeper dive into the crazy world of conspiracy theories, Ball really dissects a key (but scary) movement of the time in a digestible way.

a very solid account of the entity that is qanon with some thoughtful conclusions and questions raised. not super enlightening if you've already been diving in to this sort of research, and i think some of the links it makes are a little lazy, but definitely a good starting text if you want an overview.

I was excited for this book as I wanted to know more about Q Anon and how it came to be, and reading case studies. However, what I got was a book that talked about a tonne of other things that are not directly related to Anon. There was a lot of talk about other topics, and politics, and even a case study from the 1950s. I expected more cases and stats related to Q Anon. It was not the book I was hoping for, some parts are interesting, but I did end up skim reading it just to finish it.

The Other Pandemic by James Ball is a non-fiction book that dives into the deep depths of QAnon - a conspiracy theory that has spiralled out of control.

I really liked the tone of this book and Ball's voice throughout. He is firm, funny and realistic which I really appreciated. He outlines how QAnon originated and changed over time - diving into the intricacies of the conspiracy and the niche areas that I has no idea about. I certainly did not expect to learn to much about code names and internet 'slang' as I did!

I believe that QAnon is an inherently political organisation and I really liked the way in which Ball addressed it. It is clear that he aims to educate and achieves just that. It was great that he added tid-bits about his own experiences with the internet and growing up in a world that is s heavily shaped by it. Some non-fictions can be quite data heavy, but this steered away from that and was a great mix of anecdotes, real life events and data.

Overall, this is a fascinating read about people, culture (my social anthropology heart was beating!!) and internet conspiracies. I would absolutely recommend it if you want to learn more about QAnon and internet culture.

A fascinating but rather scary, sobering look at how QAnon took over the internet and fuelled the ‘online right‘.

The book never felt dry or boring and this non-user of social media is rather relieved to be a non-user, but grateful to understand more about how ‘digital pathogens‘ spread and mutate.

This was a very interesting account of the online pandemic.

It details QAnon's beginnings and tracks it's rise online and the effect it's had on the many areas it's touched.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Thanks ever so much to @bloomsburypublishing for sharing this title with me on @netgalley!

The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World by James Ball.

For me, fewer books are as satisfying to read as well put together explorations of some of humanity's worst traits and obsessions. The amount of times I found myself rolling my eyes, snorting, or muttering 'fucking hell...' under my breath as I was reading this one is off the charts and that's part of what made it so engaging.

I have obviously heard about QAnon for years now, but I never knew how the movement started or how it developed. The author takes us on a wild ride from its inception online on the cesspit that is 4chan to its mass spread under Trump's years in power. What I found most surprising is just how tenuous the foundations of this ideology are and how impossibly gullible and ignorant those who fell for it are as well. You think you know bigotry and warped beliefs? Think again.

Hugely insightful as well were the chapters in which the author speaks to friends and relatives of some of the individuals who have fallen prey to conspiracy theories. The book goes well beyond QAnon and branches into some of the associated beliefs with this movement, such as Covid vaccine conspiracy theories and, lest we forget, Pizzagate, with one hilarious incident ensuring that I won't spoil.

Sadly, this is one of those 'preaching to the converted'-style books and I doubt anyone who believes in QAnon will lay their mitts on it, but you can always try giving this as a Christmas present to your favourite bigoted relative. If they refuse to read it, you get to keep it, which might be even better.

4/5

This book was fascinating and quite terrifying in equal parts! The discussion over the rise of internet communities and Qanon in particular were interesting and how rapidly information, both false and true is spread globally was quite sobering. It can certainly feel increasingly difficult to differentiate between fake news and reality at times, especially when reality can be very bizarre!
The closer to present day issues the writer became, the more uncomfortable the reading, and although he gave various ways of trying to counter the more extreme views - framing and personalising issues- I was still left feeling quite powerless (obviously not the fault of the author!)
The "other pandemic" is a huge topic to which Mr Ball manages to give some cohesion in a readable way
Thank you to netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an advance copy of this book.