A recent article on The Richard Dawkins Foundation gave a few examples of conspiracy theories that were entirely made-up and had very real consequences.
In 2013, a report from the World Economic Forum suggested that online misinformation represents a significant risk to modern society.
Normally, we casually dismiss alternative explanations for things that are not easy to explain. But the Internet has given conspiracy theories more weight than they deserve.
I believe one of the problems is in the name itself. A ‘conspiracy theory’ is often not a theory at all. At least not a Scientific Theory which is what many are reaching for I think.
A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses. A scientific theory is differentiated from a hypothesis in that a theory must explain actual observations.
More often than not it is pure speculation. And I suppose that is fine. If it were not for people making decisions based on that speculation.