New Conspiracy Theory: The Internet Declared 'Dead' in 2016
Dive into the intriguing world of conspiracy theories, where beliefs range from a flat Earth to the notion that walking to the edge of a cliff might teleport you to the other side like Pac-Man. Amidst these bizarre perspectives, what if the internet itself is part of a grand conspiracy? Join us as we explore the controversial claim that the internet met its demise in 2016 and unravel the peculiar theories surrounding its alleged demise
The conspiracy theory known as the "Dead Internet Theory" claims that the internet took a turn for the worse in 2016 or 2017, portraying the current online landscape as a barren graveyard devoid of human activity.
An intriguing article on the subject suggests, 'The internet feels empty and devoid of people. It is also lacking in content. Today's internet is entirely sterile when compared to the internet of 2007 (and beyond). There is nowhere to go, and there is nothing left to do, see, read, or experience.'
While the idea may seem dull at first, the conspiracy theory takes a peculiar turn.
It contends that the internet we know today is largely comprised of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and has been strategically placed for nefarious purposes. The article proposes, 'Using a system of bots and paid workers whose tasks involve creating content and responding to online content to advance the agendas of those who employ them, there is a large-scale, intentional effort to manipulate online culture and discourse.'
According to conspiracy theorists, these bots continuously attempt to influence public perception on almost every political issue or distract individuals from questioning the elite class, all while steering them towards making purchases.
Karl Triebes, the Senior Vice President at Imperva, who conducted the research during that time, stated, 'Bots have rapidly evolved since 2013, but with the emergence of productive artificial intelligence, technology will develop at an even faster and more alarming rate in the next 10 years.'
Content created by bots poses a problem for search engines, and this issue is expected to worsen over time.
People have expressed dissatisfaction with Google's decline in recent years, and research supports the idea that Google is directing people to less useful content. Marissa Mayer, Google's 20th employee who later served as CEO of Yahoo, believes the problem originates from the internet itself.
Mayer acknowledges that it's natural for people to blame Google when they don't get quality search results as they used to, but she adds that Google sees its results more as a window into the web itself.
The real question is: Why is the web deteriorating? Despite the feeling that the internet is declining and an increase in bot activity due to their availability and ease of use, it does not necessarily mean the internet is dead.
Even though traffic is approaching an equal distribution between artificial intelligence and humans, the majority of content is still produced by humans.
Like all good conspiracy theories, the Dead Internet Theory takes a part of the truth or a commonly agreed-upon idea (the deterioration of the internet and the increase in bot activity) and transforms it into something that doesn't exist. Bot activity is on the rise, which is far from ideal for the internet, but most of the content you see online and the people on social media are not bots, and the internet is far from dead.
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