The dead Internet theory has two main components: that organic human activity on the web has been displaced by bots and algorithmically curated search results, and that state actors are doing this in a coordinated effort to manipulate the human population.^[3][14][15] The first part of this theory, that bots create much of the content on the internet and perhaps contribute more than organic human content, has been a concern for a while, with the original post by “IlluminatiPirate” citing the article “How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually” in New York magazine.^[2][16][14] The Dead Internet Theory goes on to include that Google, and other search engines, are censoring the Web by filtering content that is not desirable by limiting what is indexed and presented in search results.^[3] While Google may suggest that there are millions of search results for a query, the results available to a user do not reflect that.^[3] This problem is exacerbated by the phenomenon known as link rot, which is caused when content at a website becomes unavailable, and all links to it on other sites break.^[3] This has led to the theory that Google is a Potemkin village, and the searchable Web is much smaller than we are led to believe.^[3] The Dead Internet Theory suggests that this is part of the conspiracy to limit users to curated, and potentially artificial, content online.

The second half of the dead Internet theory builds on this observable phenomenon by proposing that the U.S. government, corporations, or other actors are intentionally limiting users to curated, and potentially artificial AI-generated content, to manipulate the human population for a variety of reasons.^{[2][14][15][3]} In the original post, the idea that bots have displaced human content is described as the “setup”, with the “thesis” of the theory itself focusing on the United States government being responsible for this, stating: “The U.S. government is engaging in an artificial intelligence-powered gaslighting of the entire world population.”^[2][6]

 I don’t know how much stock you put behind an anonymous poster on the internet named “IlluminatiPirate” but it’s an interesting thought. Well…the first half, anyway. 

I think the first half is somewhat true. Human engagement on the web has largely gone away, at least compared to what it once was on social media platforms. In an attempt to monetize the web (social media in particular) the drive is now for “content” (a word I now hate) and thus the rise and proliferation of the algorithms, bots, AI, Mindflayers and whatever else is lurking in the series of tubes we call the internet. 

I disagree that there is any single sinister villain behind any of it, though, and I think that is the most depressing part. The virus was baked in from the start, and like a virus it just replicated uncontrollably until it broke the system it fed on. And even then, it doesn’t stop. The machine was designed to eat itself. There is no greater meaning or purpose. There was no plan. There was just a virus that was designed to do one thing forever and for no reason. 

I am now posting on a blog that nobody reads, the internet equivalent of moving to a cabin in the woods. I kinda prefer it. I don’t think what I have to say really matters anyway, but there is a peace in that.