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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead Internet theory | 4/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T04:39:49.078633+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== TikTok === In 2024, TikTok began discussing offering the use of virtual influencers to advertising agencies. In a 2024 article in Fast Company, journalist Michael Grothaus linked this and other AI-generated content on social media to the dead Internet theory. In this article, he referred to the content as "AI slime".
=== YouTube === YouTube is susceptible to fake views generated by computers, not human users, and fake views were so prevalent that some engineers were concerned YouTube's algorithm for detecting them would begin to treat the fake views as default and start misclassifying real ones. YouTube engineers coined the term "the Inversion" to describe this phenomenon. YouTube bots and the fear of "the Inversion" were cited as support for the dead Internet theory in a thread on the Internet forum Melonland.
=== SocialAI === SocialAI, an app created on September 18, 2024, by Michael Sayman, was created with the full purpose of chatting with only AI bots without human interaction. An article on the Ars Technica website linked SocialAI to the dead Internet theory.
=== Digg === On June 23, 2025, Alexis Ohanian, one of the Reddit co-founders, said he thought he "long subscribed to the dead Internet theory" ever since AI has started being able to pass the Turing test, and on October 29, 2025 at TechCrunch Disrupt, Alexis reportedly told Kevin Rose, one of the original founders of Digg (a social media website originally created in 2004), "the dead internet theory is real", whilst Kevin said that he wanted to use zero-knowledge proofs to make a platform full of trusted users. On January 14, 2026, Digg was relaunched in open beta by Alexis Ohanian and Kevin Rose, but was closed 2 months later on March 14 due to an "unprecedented bot problem" among other issues.
== In popular culture == The dead Internet theory has been discussed among users of the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Users have noted that bot activity has affected their experience. Numerous YouTube channels and online communities, including the Linus Tech Tips forums and the Joe Rogan subreddit, have covered the dead Internet theory, bringing the idea into mainstream discourse.
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