Dead Internet Theory

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

RyanShook

10 points

6 comments

en.wikipedia.orgOtherstory

calmneutral

Debate

20/100

Dead Internet TheoryOnline DiscourseConspiracy Theories

Key topics

Dead Internet Theory

Online Discourse

Conspiracy Theories

The 'Dead Internet Theory' suggests that the internet is largely populated by bots and AI-generated content, sparking discussion on the nature of online interactions and the potential for manipulation.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Light discussion

First comment

Peak period

1-2h

Avg / period

1.5

Key moments

01Story posted
Sep 23, 2025 at 8:39 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Sep 23, 2025 at 9:40 PM EDT
1h after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
2 comments in 1-2h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03
04Latest activity
Sep 24, 2025 at 2:07 AM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04

Generating AI Summary...

Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (6 comments)

Showing 6 comments

walpurginacht

3 months ago

1 reply

opened twitter (now known as X), it's the same automated slop posted over and over again with a singular goal of farming engagements

opened facebook, my favourite groups are now filled with automated reposters

opened youtube, the glaring content farm videos following an obvious template with the same art style narrated by an obvious AI tts greet my feed

it is as if incentifying any sort of engagements through rewards, be it adsense money or just clout, directly correlates with the amount of automated braindead slops

i wish all other sites have the feature to just hide AI-generated content. Future content moderation is going to be insane

add-sub-mul-div

3 months ago

There's nothing worthwhile on the big platforms anymore. They're functionally quarantines keeping the newer platforms from growing too big and losing their quality.

elcapitan

3 months ago

The most prevalent source of this are people who try to ban the thought that people with different opinions exist by completely categorizing those as "bots", it seems. That's probably because the exposure to the huge variety and huge numbers of those phenomena that were invisible pre-web are just overwhelming to many people.

frendiversity

3 months ago

I'm a "real person." I think. Praise God Almighty.

evanjrowley

3 months ago

Whenever I see this Wikipedia article posted, I makes me think of the comments I've seen on very niche YouTube content by people who recognize some things out there are still very genuine. Buried somewhere in the comments on these vids for example:

"Alive Internet Theory" https://youtu.be/Qi8tkNbXjxg?si=hjJf3Gkx_c77ZFLY

"Immortal internet theory" https://youtu.be/SxSKr3WRJeE?si=lHtwwy0nBKHOy0Oo

DaveZale

3 months ago

it sure was different 30 years ago... like all conspiracy theories some of it is true.

It is a concern that one search engine dominates.

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ID: 45354749Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 5:57:30 PM

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