those who believe its an important part of their existence to have their 'friends' and acquaintances think well of them would certainly be afraid of what the author of this article speaks of. i know there have been many conversations that hit a brick wall under the circumstances he speaks about;

One of the CIA’s most successful propaganda campaigns in its 70-year history has been its use of the term “conspiracy theorist” or “conspiracy theory” to disparage anyone who dares to question the official narrative of the Kennedy assassination. The campaign has worked brilliantly. Today American society is filled with people who have a deeply seated fear of being labeled a conspiracy theorist. The fear is almost as big as the fear that people had of being labeled a communist during the Cold War.
I was once talking to two friends and the Kennedy assassination came up in the conversation. I mentioned that I had written a book called The Kennedy Autopsy, which had become a best-seller on Amazon. One of my friends suddenly asked me, “Are you a conspiracy theorist?” I responded, “Well, yes, I guess I am.”
That was the end of that particular subject. Immediately, the conversation was shifted to another topic, never to return to the Kennedy assassination. My friend wasn’t about to engage in a conversation that could down the road to becoming a dreaded conspiracy theorist.
One of the most amusing aspects of this propaganda campaign was an op-ed about the Robert Kennedy assassination that appeared a few months ago in a mainstream newspaper. Of course, most mainstream newspapers have long been extremely afraid of being labeled as conspiracy theorists. The author began his piece by making it clear to everyone that he was not a conspiracy theorist. He then proceeded to explain why he felt that the Robert Kennedy assassination, which officials long ago concluded was the act of a lone gunman, should be reopened to determine whether the assassination was actually the result of a conspiracy.


https://www.fff.org/2018/08/31/the-fear-of-being-labeled-a-conspiracy-theorist/