You might scroll through Instagram or TikTok, feeling good when you discover a creator or a community that “gets you.” You follow them for inspiration, connection, and maybe validation.
Then, over time, something shifts. You find yourself defending ideas you used to question, isolating from friends who doubt you, checking your feed constantly, and even giving money or personal information. This is not just fandom or community; this is the beginning of digital cults.
Why Digital Cults Feel So Normal
Humans are wired for connection, belonging, and meaning. When life feels uncertain or lonely, the promise of a friendly online group with shared beliefs or passions becomes very attractive. Online communities turning into cults exploit this psychology.
Creators or community leaders show vulnerability or authenticity early on, love-bombing new followers by sharing personal stories that resonate with their audience. You believe you’ve found “your people.”
This is where influencer cult followings start. A single person or small group becomes a “truth bearer”. They share content that resonates so deeply it bypasses normal skepticism. Your brain begins to trust them, almost like family or a leader in a traditional cult.
Dr John Mayer from PodCandy has discussed this many times in the podcast Cults Crime and Killers agrees that these parasocial relationships are powerful because we project ideals onto people we do not know in real life, and we give them trust far more easily online than offline.
Algorithms and Manipulation of Attention
Something that makes digital cults in America and elsewhere especially dangerous is algorithmic manipulation. Social media platforms use engagement metrics like likes, comments, shares, and dwell time to decide what gets shown to you.
The more reactive content that triggers strong feelings like anger, fear, awe, or outrage, the more it gets amplified. This creates feedback loops, where you see more of what you’ve already reacted to, reinforcing your emotional state and beliefs. This is sometimes called algorithmic radicalization.
Because algorithms prioritize engagement, they can steer you toward extreme content, even if you started with mild interest. You might begin with something relatively harmless, like a wellness coach or spiritual influencer, and end up somewhere that demands radical loyalty or obedience.
Signs of Cult Behavior on Social Platforms
Here are warning signals of cult-like online behavior in the U.S. or anywhere. If you see several of these in a community you follow, it might be time to pull back:
- Expectation that you always defend the creator or leader, no matter what, including when others point out problematic behavior.
- Constant emotional highs and lows: the community makes you feel extremely loved, then abandoned or shamed.
- Pressure to cut off critics or outsiders, which often starts politely but grows increasingly acrimonious.
- Demand for your undivided attention, time, money, and personal life, often at the sacrifice of your sense of self in order to belong.
- Rules about what you can share or think, often implied more than stated.
- Use of language that divides “us vs them”: the community vs everyone else, labeling outsiders as evil, ignorant, or hostile.
- You start to believe that the virtual world there matters more than real-world relationships or responsibilities.
Dr Mayer from PodCandy notes that many of his guests who left online extremist or cult like communities describe a creeping sense of isolation and confusion where they could not see red flags while they were inside.
Emotional Manipulation Through Content
One of the tools digital cults use is emotional manipulation through content. Creators craft stories or messages designed to elicit strong feelings usually fear, guilt, hope, salvation, belonging, or power.
They share testimonies, confessions, dramatic “before and after” moments, and Q&A lives where vulnerability is performed. Influencer posts often highlight only the positive, making followers feel inadequate. Comparison becomes constant. You begin checking what the leader says, feeling guilty if you don’t live according to their standards.
The emotional contagion in these spaces is strong; your mood shifts based on what you see, and your beliefs bend because community approval depends on agreement. This is digital brainwashing in a slow drip form.
Social Media Cults and Real World Harm
“Online groups are harmless,” people often say. But there’s growing evidence that social media spaces become dangerous when cult-like behavior is present.
- Harassment of critics, doxxing, and sometimes threats.
- Mental health declines due to depression, anxiety, and burnout from living in constant fear of missing out or not measuring up.
- Some online communities radicalize members to believe conspiracy theories or push harmful health advice, financial harm, or dangerous behaviors.
- Some cult-like influencer communities ask followers for money or personal data, claiming it will deepen their spiritual or personal growth.
- Isolation from real-life friends or family, who are seen as “not understanding” or “outside the truth.”
Why We’re Susceptible: Psychology Behind It
To understand cult behavior on social platforms, you have to understand several psychological vulnerabilities.
- Everyone wants to feel part of something larger than themselves, especially in times of stress or isolation.
- Especially young people are figuring out who they are, content creators or spiritual or political leaders, who claim certainty, are very tempting.
- Once you like content aligned with your worldview, algorithms show you more of it. Confirmation bias sets in; you see only one side, so you believe that is the only truth.
- Guilt, shame, fear, hope. These are powerful motivators. If someone promises to remove your guilt or transform you emotionally, you may follow without typical guard.
- A leader who seems wise, kind, angelic, or exceptional will get trust. Parasocial relationships grow; they feel real.
Algorithmic Radicalization and Social Media Mind Control
Digital platforms are engineered to keep you watching, engaging, commenting, and sharing. This is part of what people mean when they talk about social media mind control.
A study of recommender systems shows they can radicalize people gradually by filtering content that matches their preferences while hiding opposing perspectives. Echo chambers form, and once you enter one group or ideology, content outside it seems less credible or even dangerous.
Researchers have described digital cults in America and worldwide that use algorithmic reinforcement to make your feed your worldview. You begin to believe that what appears on your timeline is reality.
Red Flags and Breakout Moves
If you recognize warning signs of digital cult behavior online in yourself or someone you care about, here are steps to protect your mental freedom:
- Reflect on how much time you spend with the community or influencer. How often do you feel you must engage to feel safe?
- Question whether you are thinking critically, or if everything is accepted without any doubt.
- Notice if leaving would cause emotional or social costs like guilt, shame, or fear.
- Diversify your sources. Follow people with different opinions, and fact-check claims not just those that echo what you already agree with.
- Take breaks from platforms, reduce exposure to extreme content, and hold boundaries around what you allow in your mind.
- Seek trusted friends or professionals to talk about what you are feeling and practice reflecting outside the group.
Dr John Mayer from PodCandy emphasizes that recovery is more than “unfollowing” it is reclaiming your beliefs your identity and reconnecting with reality and real people.
Digital Cults vs Traditional Cults
Digital cults share many traits with classical religious cults but some differences make them spread faster and persist in more subtle ways.
Traditional cults often require physical presence, membership rituals, isolation, households, and controlled environments. Digital cults do many of these things virtually through content posts, messages, direct messages, group rules, and invisible norms.
The scale is different, too. One influencer with thousands of followers can reach more people than many small cults ever did. The anonymity and reach of platforms mean manipulation can happen across countries cultures quickly. Psychological control can be wielded without closed compounds.
Final Thoughts
We live in a time where more people seek meaningful digital connections or spiritual belonging online. Digital cults fill that gap by blending emotional rewards, content manipulation, peer validation, and algorithmic reinforcement.
It is not enough to simply blame platforms or creators, though they do carry responsibility. Each of us needs psychological awareness to see when admiration turns into dependency, or when faith in content turns into blind obedience.
If you enjoy deep dives into these topics, Dr. John Mayer from PodCandy agrees that this is one of the most urgent issues of our time. On the PodCandy: Cults, Crime, and Killers podcast, he explores stories from survivors, experts, and psychologists, showing how digital spaces that seem harmless turn harmful.
Stay aware, stay critical, and remember, your mind belongs to you.