Conspiracy Theories in Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Diplomsko delo proučuje pojav teorij zarot v času pandemije covida-19. V pričujočem delu skušam odgovoriti, zakaj tak porast teorij zarot ravno v času pandemije. Skozi ugotovitve, kaj teorije zarot sploh so, kakšen je njihov razvoj, v kakšnih razmerah najpogosteje vzniknejo, kdo so ljudje, ki jih širijo in zakaj, bom poskušala orisati splošne okoliščine, ki so ugodne za vznik teorij zarot. S pregledom dogajanja med samo pandemijo covida-19, ki nas je zajela v letu 2020, bom poglobila vpogled v okoliščine, v katerih smo se kot družba znašli v tem času ter s kakšnimi stiskami, nelagodji in strahovi smo se soočali kot posamezniki in kot (globalna) skupnost. Nadalje se bom ob tem dotaknila tudi vloge znanosti in medijev v dotični situaciji, njihovega posredovanja informacij in posledično vpliva na obnašanje ljudi in njihovo (ne)upoštevanje ukrepov za zajezitev korona virusa. Obravnavala bom tudi pomembno temo sodobnega časa - vlogo interneta in družbenih omrežij na vpliv posameznikove dovzetnosti za (dez)informacije in njihovo bliskovito širjenje prek spleta.In following diploma thesis I try to answer why the rise of conspiracy theories was so strong during the COVID-19 pandemic. By identifying what conspiracy theories are, how they have evolved, in what circumstances they most often arise, who are the people who spread them, and why, I will try to outline the general circumstances that are conducive to the emergence of conspiracy theories. By reviewing what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic itself, which engulfed us in 2020, I will gain a deeper insight into the circumstances in which we as a society found ourselves at that time, and what hardships, discomforts and fears we faced as individuals and as a (global) community. I will furthermore touch upon the role of science and the media in this situation and their information and consequent impact on people\u27s behaviour and their (non-)compliance with measures to contain the corona virus. I will also address an important contemporary topic - the role of the internet and social networks on the impact of an individual\u27s susceptibility to (mis)information and its rapid spread via the web