Parler, and other forums like it are the 21st Century "Jonestowns"
My oldest friend- of 35 or so years has been going nuttier and nuttier for the past several months. Let me give a bit of background information:
We (I am a 56 year old female) met when I was 21, living in a communal atmosphere in Asheville, NC. It was so much fun; the entire group was pretty liberal, we all had jobs and contributed to the upkeep of the house, monthly bills, etc. We hung out, had friends over, wonderful conversations. I don't recall any of us ever drinking- I can't even remember seeing a bottle of wine in the house. We were pretty healthy; our greatest fun was cooking huge meals and enjoying each other's company. The house (which has been sold) is in North Asheville near the Grove Park Inn. We were all involved with something creative, whether it was school, the environment, bird watching, photography- etc.
Over the years, we all moved on as people do- got married, had kids, got divorced (in my case, I traveled- and decided to go back to school and attend grad school)--- the usual. Nothing serious- just normal life.
My friend (who is male) was always interested in the paranormal- UFO's, ghosts. I have an open mind, so thought it was interesting, and sometimes fun. He was also- at the time, a computer genius. This guy was on the forefront of installing satellite TV, then cable- Electronically, he knew what he was doing- no doubt about it. There was nothing electronic he couldn't fix.
He is also Poly. Again, not interested in that lifestyle for myself, but I really just don't worry about how others self identify their preferred family structure.
Since Trump was elected, I have been getting some pretty strange emails. Again, nothing new- usually it's about UFO's, ghosts, etc. But, now it's become weirder and political. He is sending me emails that read like Qanon crap. Political conspiracy theories. "Deep state crap." I don't need to tell you guys what they say, because you all probably have an idea.
However, now? I am getting emails with the same theme: "You don't know what I do- you don't know what is REALLY going on."
I am a firm believer now that we have a serious problem in the US: A cult- and one whose space is defined by URL's as opposed to a plot of land. This one is bigger than anything we have ever seen, and should not be taken lightly.
Cults require a few things to define them:
1. Leadership. (Trump, and minions in the House, Senate, and on the state level)
2. Membership in a defined space. (Parler, Qanon....There are probably many wesbites I don't know about)
3. Paranoia about "the other" --- don't talk to them, don't mix- hence, the rise of Parler for the middle class-
but, more importantly:
4. A belief that requires that one is a "member." Part of a "family." That feeling of "belonging," and that you and the others are privvy to information ONLY available to YOU and other members. All humans need a family, or a "pack." Even Incels- that's why they join Incel groups- there are very few TRUE loners- even Thoreau needed an audience.
Old fashioned cults would have hated the internet- they self-defined by physical geography. They hated the rest of the world, and went out of their way to NOT allow others in. Jonestown, Heaven's Gate, the Manson "family." The last thing they wanted was scrutiny.
This is going to be one of the biggest issues facing us as we move forward. It's scary as crap.
And yes- I miss my friend. I do. He's a neat guy- and I am NOT cutting contact. I keep writing him back and saying, "this is not a credible source," and explaining why.
= new reply since forum marked as read
to its roots, creating good new jobs, raising incomes, etc. Realizing how incredibly valuable that would have been, and the enormous ground we've lost by not doing it, is what I mean about getting smart.
As for starting up new local stations, I'd love to have one in my town, but we can't force people to watch and I suspect most would fail. We could (WHEN we can) return to and improve on the Fairness Doctrine. Require all forms of existing news media to provide at least an hour a day of reliable news information people need. Fox can survive an hour of news that meets federal requirements and skips the lies and distortions.
I haven't thought about information science in high schools. Are you thinking of the part that teaches what information is? Or?
Regarding use of "populism," btw, that doesn't mean "the people," though some misuse it that way. When they're professionals who know better I immediately question their motives. Populist techniques, at their worst, and they usually are at their worst, are used to gain power by inflaming and harnessing aggressively negative emotions with promises to overthrow the established government. Those they appeal to are not idealists and builders, and they're not ideologues, they're in it for the destruction.
As we see by the many who supported both socialist Sanders and fascist white nationalist Trump at both or different times, and the many more who could have. Both leaders tried to woo each other's followers, who saw them both as creating the chance to smash all opposition that they gleefully threatened on social media. Trump was their main chance by far of course. Sanders seemingly was preferred by those more motivated by populism's typically economically progressive goals than by its socially conservative antagonisms. Notably, when he tried to rein them in because they were drawing way too much attention, they refused. He couldn't control them.
I'm going on about that because if we do lose our nation, it'll be to a populist leader heading up a populist mob, with a vast crowd of clueless partisans running behind.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-personality-trait-that-is-ripping-america-and-the-world-apart/
Nothing wrong with a good scary story- there's a reason Edgar A. Poe is still popular! 
But, yes- I am seeing authoritarian tendencies in some of what we thought of as "crunchy liberals." Couple of my grad school friends went "anti-vax" around the twist, and I am guilty of responding on their FB pages, "WTF? You KNOW better than this horseshit."
So, I am not always nice.
That white supremacist "church" that is "pagan," ---recently in the news, let me find the article and I'll post it- concerns me greatly.
This is the common thread that runs through them all; they think they have "Figured Out What's Really Going On". They are the ones that are in on The BIG Truth that THEY Don't Want You to Know".
The media lies to us because they're corporatists and Communists (apparently simultaneously 
)
The McConnell/Romney GOP wing is no different than the Democratic Party, it's one big uni-party Depp State
Covid is a deepfake lie funded in Wuhan by Bill Gates so he can microchip us.
And so on. The fact that some of their tirades occasionally stumble into a bit of truth (Hollywood has indeed had a pedophile and "casting couch" problem, the vaunted Food Pyramid of the 80s that pushed low fat and high grains was terrible) only makes their mania worse.
You may tell him that I lived between Kimberly and Merriman Ave- near the Synagogue
Oh, Asheville was fun back them- also ask him if he ever went to what I now refer to as "the Real Malaprops." (of course, it's still "real," it's a bookstore- but, back in the day it was two doors down from it's present location and avante gard!)
The Stone Soup was an amazing place to grab a quick lunch or a yummy loaf of bread- it's gone now- and the French Broad Food Coop was wonderful.
Earthfare was a small place downtown on Lexington- we called it "Dinner for the Rich"
