The TIs reference the same names over and over  Dr. Rauni Kilde, Cheryl Welsh, Ted Gunderson, Ramola D, Gerald W. Sosbee as if unaware how these 'experts' come across to others. They seem unaware that the Google search engine they recommend others seek out to find out what 'Targeted Individual' means describes the term as a conspiracy trope mainly believed by persons with serious mental health disorders. Utilizing insights from psychoanalysis, rhetorical theory, and media studies, I argue that one generative way of understanding the TI movement is as a kind of psychotic cultural structure. More specifically, through tending to the movement’s media production, I examine how the TI narrative becomes elevated to a level of significance such that it becomes an all-encompassing explanation for occurrences in an adherent’s life. 

By focusing on newspaper editorials, the r/gangstalking subreddit, and YouTube videos that showcase the TI experience, I argue that scholars should tend to conspiracy theory as something practiced. In the case of TI media, part of that practice is the production and circulation of media about their experiences. I conclude with a consideration of the possibility of moderating media connected to the TI movement alongside other contemporary conspiracist movements, such as QAnon and those who believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen. I ultimately argue that content moderation does not change the underlying relationship that adherents have to such beliefs.