How NOT To Do a Conspiracy Theory Video

This TikTok video is so mind-numbingly stupid that it begs for deconstruction.

Conspiracy theories have been around for centuries, but the explosion of social media has amplified them exponentially. Some conspiracy theories, of course, have proven to be true. But many, if not most, are nothing more than paranoid people expounding on things they don't understand.

@lovemycountry32, TikTok
We don't know her real name. 

As in this TikTok video, made by a woman who insinuates that the major renovation project of a Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C. is proof of sinister goings-on by mysterious nogoodniks. In short, she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about.

The  building is the William McChesney Martin, Jr. Building (the "Martin Building"), dedicated in 1974. It's been undergoing a multi-year modernization, and the outside of the structure is full of construction equipment and fencing. There is nothing strange about it.

The woman who made the video and posted it to TikTok on Sept. 8, 2921 calls herself "lovemycountry326." While she technically qualifies as a "citizen reporter," she has no idea how to be a citizen journalist. 

Let's watch the video and then break it down into all of its gloriously inept elements.

"So," she said, "this is [zooms in] you can see right there, this is the Federal Reserve." [zooms back out] 

Note: She never tells us which city this Federal Reserve is in. There are 12 of them around the U.S.

"Okay, so I've showed [sic] you guys pictures of this before, uhm, but it's interesting because I got a nudge to come back and do a live to show you and I'm glad that I did because I just met one of the guys here and sat and had like a 15-minute conversation with him. And it was a very good conversation, uhm, and he is going to get me some information."