This paper examines how algorithmic visibility shapes a large conspiracy community on Reddit after Jeffrey Epstein's death. We ask whether homepage exposure changes who join r/conspiracy, how long they stay, and how they adapt linguistically, compared with users who arrive through organic discovery. Using a computational framework that combines toxicity scores, survival analysis, and lexical and semantic measures, the study shows that homepage visibility acts as a selection mechanism rather than a simple amplifier. Users who discover the community organically integrate more quickly into its linguistic and thematic norms and show more stable engagement over time. By contrast, users who arrive through visibility on the homepage remain semantically distant from core discourse and participate more briefly. Overall, algorithmic visibility reshapes audience size, community composition, and linguistic cohesion: newcomers who do not join organically have different incentives, integrate weakly, and leave quickly, which limits organic growth. In this high-risk setting, the observed behavioral and linguistic trajectories over five months do not match standard narratives in which incidental exposure to conspiracy content produces durable radicalization. These findings can inform the design of web platforms and recommendation systems that seek to curb harmful conspiracy exposure while supporting more responsible, transparent, and socially beneficial uses of algorithmic recommendations.

翻译：本文研究了杰弗里·爱泼斯坦去世后，算法可见性如何塑造Reddit上一个大型阴谋论社区。我们探讨了与通过自然发现进入社区的用户相比，首页曝光是否会改变加入r/conspiracy的用户构成、他们的停留时长以及语言适应方式。通过结合毒性评分、生存分析以及词汇与语义度量的计算框架，本研究表明首页可见性充当了一种选择机制，而非简单的放大器。通过自然方式发现社区的用户能更快融入其语言和主题规范，并表现出更稳定的长期参与度。相比之下，通过首页可见性进入的用户在语义上始终与核心讨论保持距离，且参与时间更为短暂。总体而言，算法可见性重塑了受众规模、社区构成和语言凝聚力：非自然加入的新用户具有不同的动机，融入程度弱且迅速离开，这限制了有机增长。在此高风险情境下，为期五个月观察到的行为与语言轨迹并不符合常规叙事——即偶然接触阴谋论内容会导致持久的激进化。这些发现可为网络平台和推荐系统的设计提供参考，以遏制有害阴谋论内容的传播，同时支持更负责任、透明且对社会有益的算法推荐应用。