“I even saw four deer grazing”: online-offline entanglements in the psilocybin pluriverse
Michał Wanke, Paweł Matuszewski, Piotr Siuda
June 17, 2026 DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/tk4bv_v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Thematic analysis of forum posts Longitudinal Qualitative |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 3,000 |
| Population | Posts from the largest Polish online drug forum |
| Duration | Mid-2000s–2023 |
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Assemblage archaeology Thematic analysis Narrative Narrativity Negotiation Embodied cognition Field mathematics Ethnography Affordance Aesthetics Legitimacy Epistemology Qualitative research Scholarship Photo elicitation Game studies Lived experience Discourse analysis Participant observation Paranormal Media studies Legibility Science studies |
| Key points | After 2020, forum discussions about psilocybin mushrooms shifted from metaphysical narratives toward predictive, scientifically informed, and risk-managed practices, reflecting hybrid digital-ecological entanglements. |
Abstract
PurposeThis paper aims to examine evolving practices and discourses surrounding psilocybin mushrooms on an online drug forum. Situating use within hybrid digital and ecological contexts, it traces shifts in user engagement before and after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to contextualize localized realities of the contemporary psychedelic renaissance.Design/methodology/approachUsing an agential cut framework, the authors conducted a thematic analysis of approximately 3,000 qualitative posts from the largest Polish forum (mid-2000s–2023). The study tracks how forum users integrate digital tools (mapping, smartphone verification) with environmental field observations, mapping the online-offline entanglements and more-than-human relations of foraging.FindingsAnalysis reveals a post-2020 shift from immersive, metaphysical narratives toward predictive, scientifically informed and risk-managed practices. Building directly on critical drug scholarship regarding assemblage thinking and ontological multiplicity, the authors conceptualize the forum as an apparatus within a psychedelic pluriverse, where radically different versions of psilocybin simultaneously coexist, negotiate legitimacy and sustain themselves.Originality/valueBy integrating longitudinal forum analysis with a multispecies and pluriverse perspective, the study shows how digital platforms and embodied ecological practices jointly shape contemporary psychedelic practices, highlighting their relational, contingent and ethically informed character and demonstrating how shifts in discursive framings coincide with changing modes of ecological attention and risk reflexivity.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on psilocybin, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patients’ Accounts of Increased “Connectedness” and “Acceptance” After Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Patients with treatment-resistant depression enrolled in an open-label trial of psilocybin | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 20 |
| Patient Experiences of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Adults aged 22 to 69 with clinically elevated anxiety associated with a cancer diagnosis | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 13 |
| Psychedelic therapy for smoking cessation: Qualitative analysis of participant accounts Participants who completed a psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation pilot study | 2018 | Qualitative follow-up study using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis | n = 12 |
| Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD Cluster headache patients who used psilocybin or LSD | 2006 | Qualitative study | n = 53 |
| Cancer at the Dinner Table: Experiences of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Cancer-Related Distress Adult participants with clinically elevated anxiety associated with a cancer diagnosis | 2017 | Qualitative study using interpretative phenomenological analysis | n = 13 |