dead internet theory

English

Proper noun

the dead internet theory

1. A conspiracy theory claiming that the vast majority of content that people interact with on the Internet has been produced by bots rather than actual humans.
   • 2021 August 31, Kaitlyn Tiffany, “Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet 'Died' Five Years Ago”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-02-13:

     Obviously, the internet is not a government psyop, even though the Department of Defense had a role in its invention. But if it were, the most compelling evidence to me is the dead-internet theory's observation that the same news items about unusual moon-related events seem to repeat year after year.

   • 2022, David Sinclair, The Church of the Serpent: The Philosophy of the Snake and Attaining Transcendent Knowledge, Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu.com, →ISBN:

     The Dead Internet theory never said that humans do not have accounts. It made an entirely different point: that most accounts are bot accounts.

   • 2022, Thorsten J. Pattberg, The Menticide Manual: How To Destroy The Mind, New York, N.Y.: LoD Press, →ISBN, page 37:

     He told me about the dead internet theory, and about how some German hackers in 2016 found out that only 3% of humans get 90% of all internet traffic.

   • 2022 September 24, Isaiah McCall, “"The Dead Internet Theory" is New and Spreading Everywhere”, in Medium‎^[2], archived from the original on 2022-12-23:

     And not only does Dead Internet Theory suggest that the internet is slowly being controlled by bots, but also that it learns your habits and thoughts, tailoring an echo chamber for you. It could even include reactionary bots to craft a digital world of opposing opinions.