Web Cults: Do They Exist?
January 21, 2006 4:22 PM   Subscribe

Crazy people, pseudoscience and cult pages, are there any on the internet with a following or are they just there to be amusing?

I am asking for links to successful snake oils, and internet based cults. I have doubts that anyone buys into these things. Prove me wrong, or prove me right!
posted by TwelveTwo to Society & Culture (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Are you asking for snake oils that do brisk internet business, internet-based cults that charge no money, enormously profitable ministries online or something that's purely and only on the internet and is still profitable?

I'm not sure how broadly you define the term "cult," but this Cult was moderately successful in its heyday. And it rocked.
posted by JekPorkins at 4:43 PM on January 21, 2006


Man, pseudoscience is easy to find. Here's a popular young earth creationist site, and here's where all the big names in "Intelligent Design" blog.

I'm pretty sure Time Cube guy is for real too.
posted by dgaicun at 5:07 PM on January 21, 2006


Response by poster: I mean more like Time Cube than Amway. Like are there actual believers of Time Cube? And by snake oil, I mean stuff like those bracelets that gave infinite life using magnets or whatever it was.
posted by TwelveTwo at 5:20 PM on January 21, 2006


Right here is your true blue Internet cult: Snared by a Cybercult Queen
posted by johngoren at 5:36 PM on January 21, 2006


Response by poster: Wow.
posted by TwelveTwo at 5:48 PM on January 21, 2006


Yeah, do a Google search for NESARA, it's breathtaking.
posted by johngoren at 8:06 PM on January 21, 2006


The Church of the Subgenius started off with simple mailings back in the 80s, but since then has spread to the internet, especially alt.religion.subgenius (well, to be honest, I've not done UseNet in years, but back in the early 90's it was well-visited). Cult? Not a cult? I still don't know.
posted by missed at 10:57 PM on January 21, 2006


CotSG isn't a cult, it's a money-making joke.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:22 AM on January 22, 2006


Also check Crank.net.
posted by dgaicun at 2:39 PM on January 25, 2006


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