With how easily we rely on machine learning computers to ease our daily tasks, there is no doubt that they, too, can easily replicate what humans do on a daily basis: content creation and engagement.
Now, the blame is not entirely the AI to take. Most likely the low barrier for entry to social media has also led to this, as well as spam and advertising being the main drivers for the excessive number of bots we see on social media.
I still remember people talking about the “Dead Internet” theory, where humans no longer control the content they see or create, and instead the machine takes over on behalf of the humans. From the looks of it, it’s not entirely impossible for such concepts to come to fruition.
And with that, I’d like to cover on a few things when it comes to this so-called abnormality. What exactly is a “Dead Internet” theory? What causes it, and how adverse the effects are to humans?
The Dead Internet Theory: Textbook and Contextual Definition
By textbook definition, a “Dead Internet” theory is a conspiracy theory suggesting that a large portion of the content we see online today, especially on social media platforms, is no longer created by real people but rather by AI (artificial intelligence). Which leads to the dying of the Internet we once knew that was filled with organic and user-created content.
The theory alone is merely, well, a theory. If we are to take a look strictly at the textbook definition, only the AI is to blame for the excessive spam posts and trends that fill out people’s social media feed. But come to think of it, humans themselves are also, unknowingly, contributing to the emergence of such theory.
To put in into perspective, humans love going for trends. Be it on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or any other social media platform, they follow and recreate contents that are within their interest, which we call as an echo chamber (I wrote about this in one of my articles). The trends can be fun and engaging, but bear in mind that the sheer volume of similar content can contribute to a feeling of homogenisation (everything looking very similar) online.
The limitations of what the users choose to see nowadays, the severity of algorithms on social media to feed the users with similar content, and the presence of bots to create fake engagement on lifeless content — these are the main reasons why the Internet feels the way it does now: hollow.
That’s basically what the “Dead Internet” theory is. And it’s not much of a myth anymore, now that we’re decades into the Internet age.
What Causes It?
If we’re looking at the personal driving force, it’s definitely about the need to be validated. This is often the reason we see so many trends, and so many people following and posting practically similar content — be it on posts, or comments. They measure their worth by the number of likes on their posts and followers they get (a bit outstretched, but you get the point).
Take a look at meme accounts on any social media platform. Sure, we can self-assure ourselves by believing they create the account to spread jokes and smiles, but let’s be honest — they want tractions on their accounts. I am no different from the group after all — being seen by people is a blissful feeling, especially on online world, where people are a bit more… liberated.
So we keep seeing so many meme accounts on social media posting almost the same thing on the explorer’s feed (on Instagram; otherwise, FYP on TikTok), because of the echo chamber. People only want to see things that they’re used to, or like. “If they can get this many followers posting memes, I want to do the same too.”, or something like that.
And this applies to comments, too. Twitter (or X), Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok has an abhorrently massive amount of unrelated replies on any posts (mostly from meme accounts). Things like “We get (insert here) before GTA VI” on Instagram or random bot comments on YouTube such as “OH GIVE ME HATE ON MY VIDEOS” or “This is the clip you’re looking for: (insert link here)” to lure in people just lead us even more towards the “Dead Internet” utopia.
So yes, the idea of wanting to be validated and seen by the public to build traction, as well as increasing engagement on one’s profile are some of the biggest contributing factors to what we’re experiencing on the Internet right about now. It’s sad, really, but that’s how the Internet works now.
What Harm Can These Things Do?
From a mild concern to a severity to one’s sanity, I’d say the effects of this phenomenon are somewhere in the middle. The prolonged exposure of similar content for hours every day can lead to exhaustion and lack of creativity. To get inspired, you’d need something new.
But if all we’re looking are similar contents and memes, there’s not much to look for. Not to mention that the way that the social media is designed to trap the users in for hours on end does not help with one’s motivation to illustrate creative work, either.
There is also concern that the constant battle of seeking attention in this so-called utopia can lead towards the feeling of isolation and inadequacy. You see one guy posting funny comments and get thousands of likes, and you tend to do the same on other posts just to garner the same number of likes. As if the need to get likes far surpasses anything else we’d like to achieve on the social media that was once used to connect with friends and family (the Internet is evolving, after all).
You don’t get that same number of likes, there’d be this feeling that you don’t perform enough. It happens.
So, what I’d like to say is that the “Dead Internet” theory might be closer than we think. It’s not something to lose your head over, mind you — it could be a side effect of the evolution of the Internet due to AI still being newly regulated. But then again, it could be the starting point where machines, and not humans would generate the content we see on the Internet. We’ll see.
If you’re interested in reading more about ‘Doomscrolling’ on social media, feel free to read it here. Otherwise, I have a full catalogue of articles you’d probably be interested in reading. As always, I’ll see you some other time.
