Allies of Expertise: How Laypeople Defend the Epistemic Authority of Science Online

Abstract

Social media is often perceived as a particularly hostile environment for established expertise. Instead of following the advice of scientists or other established experts, there is a fear that laypeople may turn to alternative claims from online communities, influencers, or even populists and conspiracy theorists. However, this study demonstrates that laypeople not only circumvent or challenge the epistemic authority of established expertise online, they also engage in ways aiming to uphold it. Drawing on a two-year digital ethnography of an online community organized in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, I conceptualize such engagement as that of allies of expertise. When taking on this role, laypeople perceive the epistemic authority of established expertise as threatened and defend it against post-truth phenomena on social media platforms. Thereby, they aim to convince others to favor scientific expertise over alternative claims when informing their opinions and decisions. With this concept I contribute to expertise scholarship, especially to understandings of a crisis of expertise.