The Dead Internet Theory (According to Me)

The Dead Internet Theory is the idea that most of what you see online isn’t created for people anymore — and maybe not even by them. The human web has been replaced by an endless loop of automated content feeding automated engagement. The result isn’t a conspiracy — it’s just a slow, quiet decay. The lights are still on, but the party’s long over.

People talk about the “Dead Internet” like it’s a secret plot — as if bots quietly took over everything. Maybe they did. But my version is simpler: the internet just turned into a place where we’re constantly being sold to. Every scroll, click, or pause is bait. You’re the fish, and the water’s full of lures.

That pisses me off, mostly because I remember when the web felt alive. You’d stumble into strange corners run by actual humans — people who weren’t chasing followers or monetization plans, just trying to say something weird, useful, or beautiful. It was like a public-access channel for the collective unconscious. Now it feels like cable TV in a trench coat pretending to be your friend.

But here’s the thing — I’m not against people who make a living online. I’ve got friends who do, and they’re good at it. You can still have a Fugazi tattoo and own a Ramones album. Integrity and commerce don’t have to be enemies; it’s just that one of them should clearly be driving the car.

The problem isn’t that the internet makes money — it’s that everything has been redesigned for that purpose. The algorithm doesn’t care if what you post means anything, only whether it’s clickable. The soul got outsourced to the metrics department.

So when I talk about the “Dead Internet,” I don’t mean it’s gone. I mean it’s drifting. The lights are on, but most of the people who built the early web — the ones who did it for the joy of connection — have left the room. I’m just trying to drag a few chairs back to the campfire.

This entire site is written by a human, for other humans — without the hope of selling anything or chasing clout. So if you see typos, rough edges, or broken links… well, that’s what we humans do. In an effort to spread this approach and get back to basics (thank you, Ramones), I’ve created a Web Ring — a small circle of independent creators doing things the old-fashioned way: with care, curiosity, and no automation required.

References

Muzumdar, P., Cheemalapati, S., RamiReddy, S. R., Singh, K., Kurian, G., & Muley, A. (2025). The Dead Internet Theory: A survey on artificial interactions and the future of social media. Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science, 18(1), 67–73.

https://doi.org/10.9734/ajrcos/2025/v18i1549

Walter, Y. (2024). Artificial influencers and the dead internet theory. AI & Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-023-01857-0