Hello and welcome to another episode of Let's Talk Social, the podcast where we dive into the stories behind the trends, the truths behind the headlines, and the occasional tech conspiracy that gets us scratching our heads. I'm Rich Haik, and today we're talking about a theory that might just make you look at your favorite apps and websites in a whole new way.

It's called the dead internet theory, and no, this isn't a late night horror movie plot, although it kind of feels like one. Imagine this, a world where the internet isn't bustling with real human connections, but instead is dominated by bots, AI, and scripted interactions. Sounds eerie, right? Well, let's unpack it.

At its core, the dead internet theory suggests that the vibrant, chaotic, human powered internet of the past has been replaced with something artificial. According to this theory, much of the online content we consume today, posts, comments, videos, and even conversations, might not come from real people, but rather from bots, scripts, and AI tools.

The proponents of this idea believe that the shift is deliberate. They argue that corporations and even governments use AI generated content to push agendas, influence opinions, or simply create the illusion of an engaged user base. For instance, have you ever found yourself reading a perfectly worded comment thread and thought, This is too polished to be real, or have you noticed how social media trends feel manufactured, popping up and then disappearing as if they're controlled by some unseen algorithmic hand?

The dead internet theory leans heavily on these observations. So what supports this claim? Let's start with bots.

Studies show that a significant percentage of internet traffic comes from non human sources.

A 2023 report estimated that over 40 percent of all web traffic was bot driven. Bots serve many purposes from search engine indexing to spamming and even political propaganda, But according to dead internet theorists, this number is much higher, with bots dominating entire platforms.

Then there's AI. With tools like ChatGBT, DALI, and other generative models becoming mainstream, creating realistic text, images, and now videos with Sora is easier than ever. It's not a stretch to imagine AI quietly producing thousands of posts, blogs, articles, and even videos to fill the internet with content.

On top of that, consider the decline of once thriving online communities. Remember the days of message boards and niche forums? Many of these have disappeared, replaced by algorithm driven platforms like Facebook and TikTok, where interactions feel curated, or worse, simulated. But before we throw all our routers into the sea, and let's pump the brakes, the dead Internet theory isn't exactly backed by hard data.

For every bot generated comment or AI crafted post, there are countless genuine human interactions happening online, From viral grassroots movements to niche hobby groups, the web is still full of real messy human connections. Platforms like Twitter and Reddit have millions of active users, many of whom create unique cultural moments daily.

And while bot traffic is a real concern, companies are actively fighting it. In fact, many of the tech giants are investing heavily in bot detection systems and transparency initiatives. Which makes me laugh, because they are the ones that made the bots, and they're also trying to detect for them. And let's not forget, skepticism is healthy, but jumping into conclusions without evidence, eh, that's how you end up on a reddit thread at 3 a.

m. Convincing yourself that pigeons are government drones, which they might be. So why does this theory resonate with so many people? Maybe it's because the internet does feel different. The rise of algorithms, the decline of organic communities, And the increasing role of AI have undeniably changed how we interact online.

People are nostalgic for the internet of the early 2000s, a time when things felt raw, unpredictable, and undeniably human. But the dead internet theory taps into that nostalgia while reflecting genuine concerns about how technology shapes our perceptions. There's also the issue of trust. When you learn that platforms use bots for engagement or AI to moderate content, it's easy to start questioning everything you see online, especially when they're trying to sell you products.

So is the Internet dead? Probably not, but it's definitely evolving and not always in ways that feel comforting or transparent. The Dead Internet Theory might not hold up under scrutiny, but it raises important questions about authenticity, trust, and the role of technology in our lives.

That's all for today's episode of Let's Talk Social. Whether you're a believer in the dead internet or a staunch skeptic, the important thing is to stay curious and question the narratives that we are fed.

Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with your friends. Preferably real ones, not bots. Thanks for tuning in, and until next time, keep it social.

All right, and we're to that point again in the podcast where I get to just do a little candid five, 10 minute talk on the points that I made in the podcast itself. And this one's interesting to me because these social media networks spent so much time trying to get rid of bots and now they're supposedly going to be recreating them.

And you just look at like the death of social media, the death of the internet kind of. Makes you wonder if this is all gonna last a long time or if people are gonna turn to more traditional methods I don't see like I said in the other podcast like newspaper coming back or anything like that But I do see just the overwhelming sense of ads and bots and all this stuff I think it's going to be a hyper overload for people that are, it's like overstimulization of stuff.

So it's either you plug in or you unplug and there's kind of going to be no in between. It seems like they're forcing us to do one or the other. And so I think there's going to be two major camps and it's going to be the TikTok doom scrollers. And then the people that watch CNN and Fox news and like, so like old versus young essentially.

And. After the generations raise up and time passes, it does make me wonder what the future generations are going to be paying attention to when it comes to social media, because it's going to have this like kind of ick to it where you don't even want to consume this type of content because all it is is ads.

And there might be some sort of stigma around what social media is. And they're like, no, that's just gross. Whereas like when I was young, You know, I got Facebook in 2007. I was in seventh grade. This was a huge deal. It was like, Oh my gosh, we have social media. Like if your relationship status was on there, if you friended somebody, it was a big deal.

Like people could see other people's, uh, statuses and what their profile picture was. Like, it was like a big deal to up, Update your profile photo because you would care about what everyone thought about you like as a kid I'm talking about and so I think the future generations of kids are gonna Be a little turned off by the idea of social media if it continues in the direction it's going so I think they've got a big challenge of figuring out how to Stay alive, and I don't think bots are gonna be the solution to this Uh, or I say AI bots like the fake comments and fake solutions.

I think it's a temporary like money grab, but there's just no future that exists in my mind where Uh, you know my kid he's almost two when he's 15 years old. I just don't see him downloading facebook Getting on Instagram, like, maybe TikTok in the future. There's gonna be something else, and these platforms are gonna die eventually.

And that's how everything goes, there's always gonna be the next thing, but I just think the ads are, like, let's say Facebook did exist the whole time. The way it's going, I don't think they're gonna be inclined to make a Facebook profile, because they're like, well, why would I? I'm never gonna get on there.

It's just crap. It's just a bunch of ads and other stuff. So they've definitely got a hurdle to overcome when it comes to the amount of stuff they're doing right now, but they also have to make money. They have to please shareholders and their stockholders and all these other things. So they're in a bit of a predicament where they need to figure out what to do.

I mentioned in a previous episode, like the groups thing where If they make a group and the group is full of people that actually care about all the stuff the group is about, they can kind of like echo chamber down to that specific niche topic and let people talk about that. That would dictate the ability or the reason to create a Facebook account.

But again, like the kids coming up, I don't think they're going to care about other people's opinions on certain topics when it comes to a group on Facebook. Maltese dogs or whatever it is. I don't even know if that's a real breed to be honest. Uh, it sounds like one. Um, I just, I just, I just don't think they're going to care that much.

So it's social media in itself is going to have a big challenge ahead of itself to evolve and adopt a less ad like function where it makes money, but it's not fueled by. businesses just pumping ads into it. Maybe the influencer route is the future of it all where they're not necessarily sponsored ads where it says sponsored and the whole thing.

Cause they have to do that for, uh, you know, to be open and transparent about like the laws around, Hey, this is an ad. You're being served an ad. This is not real content, but if they can get influencers, like there's that dude that cooks on the Blackstone all the time on Facebook and Instagram, whatever.

And he's not like sponsored by Blackstone, but he probably is. And all it's Blackstone, everything for all the contents, like the flat, the flat top grill. And like, I have one of myself, I didn't buy it because of him. But I think that's kind of going to be the future of how these companies can make money is like backdoor sponsorships of connecting influencers with brands or just normal people with brands.

So you like Amazon's affiliate program, for instance, Amazon's affiliate program is genius. If you sign up for that and you make a post on your Instagram, you can be a literal no one. And if someone looks at your Instagram post and then decides, Hey, that's pretty cool. And like, I'll go click the link in the bio.

If they click that the link is got a, uh, GTM parameter set up where it, Basically has your like name and the link and so when they buy that you get credit for it And so the affiliate gets paid and I think social media channels could kind of take advantage of that in the same sense where Let's not say Facebook, but the insert new social media channel here Or like new, new Facebook adoption of whatever it's going to be.

They could put their own parameter up on the URL and have it to where the influencer gets paid and Facebook gets paid or whoever it is. And that could be how they make their money. So it doesn't have to be, it's necessarily an ad serve, but even then it's a lot of logistical nightmare because you have to get the influencers or even just normal person that wants to post about a product.

Set up to where there's payouts and the taxes and the like, it just becomes crazy. So you either go totally open source like blue sky and it's just, everyone's got their own thing. And like, there's no real seemingly no real like big motive to make a ton of money. Or if you really want to make a bunch of money, you've got to find a way to get the platforms, just server space alone and getting a server room and employing hundreds of people.

That's tens of millions of dollars a year to do all that stuff. So like, they've got to make that backup somehow. But the problem is the consumer doesn't like feeling like they're getting served ads all the time. And they certainly don't want to know that there's bots or AI. giving them content back to them.

So it's, uh, definitely a big hurdle to overcome. Like I said, and I think, uh, we've got a weird future coming with the social media realm in terms of all of these items, but who knows, maybe, maybe the next generation won't care and they just will continue on like we have. I mean, social media has made it through two generations now, almost.

And it seems like nothing much has changed apart from more ads, but I just can't believe that we would continue in that direction where every single post you see, or like, every tenth post is a real post, and then everything else is AI or an ad. I just, I don't see humans continuing in that direction.

That would feel like the WALL E movie, where We're all just plugged in or like on chairs, really fat and just room buying around the room and like sipping sodas and just screen in front of your face. And you're just being like. Brainwashed a hundred percent of the time. So that's my thoughts. It's a, it's a weird one, a little bit of conspiracy, or it feels like I'm talking conspiracy theory at least.

But, uh, appreciate you guys listening to the podcast. Again, share this back with friends, family, whoever you think would be interested. Love your opinion in the comments and just to see what other people think about this topic. And yeah, I appreciate you guys listening. Thanks.