16 ms·

Dead Internet Theory

11 points by doener 2y ago

8organicbits 2y ago
I think the major search engines guide us towards the dead parts of the Internet. It's unsurprising that Google (an ad agency) sends traffic to the ad-laden, dead parts of the web. Living parts of the web tend not to like ads (they are user hostile) while the dead parts are just trying to drive clicks. But the web is still alive, see: * https://www.marginalia.nu/ https://www.marginalia.nu/ * https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2024/04/16/the-dark-forest-anthology-of-the-internet/ https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2024/04/16/the-dark-forest-anthol... * https://alexsci.com/rss-blogroll-network/ https://alexsci.com/rss-blogroll-network/
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
rossdavidh 2y ago
So, there are three parts to this: 1) that most of the internet is now "inorganic", i.e. fake generated content. This seems to be nearly an objective fact by now. 2) that most of the inorganic content is created in order to manipulate the public; well sure, why else? 3) that it's mostly done by ONE organization, e.g. the U.S. government. That seems implausible, for many reasons. It's a whole host of organizations (governments, corporations, political movements) all trying to spam the world (with machine-generated content) in order to sway opinions. So, I agree with every part of this "conspiracy theory", except for the conspiracy part. This is my objection to most conspiracy theories; it's not that I don't believe the big powers do bad stuff, it's that I don't believe they're all on the same side or that well organized.
ChrisArchitect 2y ago
See the many discussions about AI-infiltration and "Dead Internet Theory" around here: The AI bullshit singularity https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39422528 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39422528 The internet feels fake now. It's all just staged videos and marketing https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39551035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39551035 X becoming a 'ghost town' of bots as AI-generated spam content floods internet https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39535310 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39535310 The Internet Is Full of AI Dogshit https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38952526 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38952526

11 points by doener 2y ago

I think the major search engines guide us towards the dead parts of the Internet. It's unsurprising that Google (an ad agency) sends traffic to the ad-laden, dead parts of the web. Living parts of the web tend not to like ads (they are user hostile) while the dead parts are just trying to drive clicks. But the web is still alive, see: * https://www.marginalia.nu/ https://www.marginalia.nu/ * https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2024/04/16/the-dark-forest-anthology-of-the-internet/ https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2024/04/16/the-dark-forest-anthol... * https://alexsci.com/rss-blogroll-network/ https://alexsci.com/rss-blogroll-network/

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

rossdavidh 2y ago

So, there are three parts to this: 1) that most of the internet is now "inorganic", i.e. fake generated content. This seems to be nearly an objective fact by now. 2) that most of the inorganic content is created in order to manipulate the public; well sure, why else? 3) that it's mostly done by ONE organization, e.g. the U.S. government. That seems implausible, for many reasons. It's a whole host of organizations (governments, corporations, political movements) all trying to spam the world (with machine-generated content) in order to sway opinions. So, I agree with every part of this "conspiracy theory", except for the conspiracy part. This is my objection to most conspiracy theories; it's not that I don't believe the big powers do bad stuff, it's that I don't believe they're all on the same side or that well organized.

ChrisArchitect 2y ago

See the many discussions about AI-infiltration and "Dead Internet Theory" around here: The AI bullshit singularity https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39422528 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39422528 The internet feels fake now. It's all just staged videos and marketing https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39551035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39551035 X becoming a 'ghost town' of bots as AI-generated spam content floods internet https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39535310 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39535310 The Internet Is Full of AI Dogshit https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38952526 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38952526