Dead Internet "theory"

[Caroline]

Not sure if this has been posted around here but there's a sort of theory -I wouldn't call it that way though as it's more like a postulate or an hypothesis- stating that the internet is dead and mostly populated by BOTS 

 

You can read all of it here: https://forum.agoraroad.com/index.php?threads/dead-internet-theory-most-of-the-internet-is-fake.3011/

 

Here's an interesting quote from that post

Quote

The Internet feels empty and devoid of people. It is also devoid of content. Compared to the Internet of say 2007 (and beyond) the Internet of today is entirely sterile. There is nowhere to go and nothing to do, see, read or experience anymore. It all imploded into a handful of normalf** sites and these empty husks we inhabit. Yes, the Internet may seem gigantic, but it's like a hot air balloon with nothing inside. 

Now, this is kind of exactly what I feel when browsing the mainstream net nowadays, everything just feels... the same. I don't even get on mainstream social media anymore -name it Twitter, Facebook, and so on- because of this, I'll just choose to ignore all of the wacko conspiracy stuff on that post about the government flooding the internet with SKYNET-like "AI" and staged videos because that's not how I see this issue. 

 

I've tried Twitter before, and got bored after a couple days, I simply don't care about what's posted on Twitter, the same goes for stuff like Instagram that seemingly a lot of people use, same with FB or whatever, if I want to talk to the few friends I have I just text them over the phone or meet them IRL.

The way I see it the surface web is just a bunch of repetitive ideas going on, where everyone seems to be I dunno, acting, like trying hard to fit somewhere, to be politically correct or just keep going with the trends, I just think it's unreal, everything in sites like Twitter *feels* artificial, fake... debates are mainly just A vs B extreme positions spamming insults and sh*tposts until one side just decides to ban the other, almost everything on normie sites is considered offensive and you get permabanned for even stating scientific facts or having a different opinion that goes against what's considered normal nowadays.

 

 

is there someone here feeling the same or did I just gone full insane because of the extended periods of isolation due to the covid? is the internet dead and there are more propaganda bots than people already?

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, Caroline said:

is there someone here feeling the same or did I just gone full insane because of the extended periods of isolation due to the covid? is the internet dead and there are more propaganda bots than people already?

People did go insane and thats not going away any time soon. Too much negativity especially in the US right now. Between Covid and all the riots due to issues with law enforcement, people are at their breaking points. 

 

I will agree however Social media has become a cesspool. Ive on several occasions have almost turned off my Facebook account. Twitter isn't too bad and I mostly use it for keeping up with what Linus, Pauls Hardware, etc are doing and video releases. 

 

The big issue I think is with the internet is the same issue with all the News stations. They are owned by a few people. These big companies buy all these smaller companies who are very popular. Pretty soon all social media is controlled only by a very few big companies like Facebook.

 

On the other side the internet has become a tool. A tool to get work done. A tool to allow people out in life. Such as apply for work, online banking, shopping and so on. The internet is no longer that fun place you go to cool down. Its now a big part of your life. 

[thrasher_565]

internet 2.0 is all ready here...there watching you...

[whm1974]

1 minute ago, thrasher_565 said:

internet 2.0 is all ready here...there watching you...

If you simply don't have a Webcam and Microphone they can't Watch or Listern to you now can they? Track through the Web? There are preventive measures to at least reduce the amount of Info that can gleaned from your data. Or said data from being harvested in the first place.

[thrasher_565]

4 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

If you simply don't have a Webcam and Microphone they can't Watch or Listern to you now can they? Track through the Web? There are preventive measures to at least reduce the amount of Info that can gleaned from your data. Or said data from being harvested in the first place.

you have friends and family right? they can target them to get at you. if you have a cellphone your fucked.

[thrasher_565]

 

[whm1974]

OP you might be using Facebook and other Social Media way too much. My advice? Get off Facebook and ask them nicely they will.

[Caroline]

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

The big issue I think is with the internet is the same issue with all the News stations. They are owned by a few people. These big companies buy all these smaller companies who are very popular. Pretty soon all social media is controlled only by a very few big companies like Facebook.

I like the news analogy, there are tons of new content every minute but most of it is pointless. Most of the 'big' media is owned by a handful of companies, Facebook isn't just a site anymore, it's a sort of ecosystem where you have the classic network but also a pic sharing site, a chat service and a couple more things. Google is a completely biased search engine, you can only see what they want you to see, this isn't a conspiracy but facts and there are some ways to demonstrate it, and they're in control of a ton of services.

 

8 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

OP you might be using Facebook and other Social Media way too much. My advice? Get off Facebook and ask them nicely they will.

I literally don't use the big social media sites let alone facebook

[whm1974]

5 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

you have friends and family right? they can target them to get at you. if you have a cellphone your fucked.

Get a phone with a removable battery. Remove it.

[IkeaGnome]

1 minute ago, Caroline said:

I like the news analogy, there are tons of new content every minute but most of it is pointless. Most of the 'big' media is owned by a handful of companies, Facebook isn't just a site anymore, it's a sort of ecosystem where you have the classic network but also a pic sharing site, a chat service and a couple more things. Google is a completely biased search engine, you can only see what they want you to see, this isn't a conspiracy but facts and there are some ways to demonstrate it, and they're in control of a ton of services.

To add to this. It's also the same "news" what ever site you go to. For example, MSN and BBC will have the same "news" that is targeted towards North America. Even our local news has a big section for nation and world wide news that reflects these two. 

More sites than ever, less places to find different information it seems.

[whm1974]

2 minutes ago, Caroline said:

I like the news analogy, there are tons of new content every minute but most of it is pointless. Most of the 'big' media is owned by a handful of companies, Facebook isn't just a site anymore, it's a sort of ecosystem where you have the classic network but also a pic sharing site, a chat service and a couple more things. Google is a completely biased search engine, you can only see what they want you to see, this isn't a conspiracy but facts and there are some ways to demonstrate it, and they're in control of a ton of services.

 

I literally don't use the big social media sites let alone facebook

Good for you. The biggest problem with Social Media is the Users can have enter a Social Bubble. Basically Folks will forget that there a World outside their Bubble. The Bubble is a Echo Chamber fill Members who all agree each other.

[thrasher_565]

24 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

Get a phone with a removable battery. Remove it.

what will removing the battery do?

[Caroline]

10 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

Good for you. The biggest problem with Social Media is the Users can have enter a Social Bubble. Basically Folks will forget that there a World outside their Bubble. The Bubble is a Echo Chamber fill Members who all agree each other.

i know, thing is I'm not in any bubble but I can see others are inside them, that's why I mentioned Twitter, site's a massive echo chamber at this point.

 

23 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

To add to this. It's also the same "news" what ever site you go to. For example, MSN and BBC will have the same "news" that is targeted towards North America. Even our local news has a big section for nation and world wide news that reflects these two. 

More sites than ever, less places to find different information it seems.

About that. When browsing local sites or watching news channels all of the content is also the same because that's what's considered 'important' by X or Y at the top.

The aim makes sense though, why would someone living let's say in Korea want to watch news from Greece? there's still relevant info for everyone out there, it's just really hard to find and you've got to actively look for it, it's true MSM tries to manipulate thought but that's the whole point behind it, I know there are tons of conspiracies about subliminal stuff and propaganda but I won't get into it to avoid derailing the topic.

[Guest]

People use internet services like Netflix and Facebook rather than use the internet, other than to look up stuff. It’s not devoid, just different. 

[Caroline]

13 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

what will removing the battery do?

shut it off lol

 

I remember when the first phones with cameras became cheap there were a lot of posts and just people saying "they" (langley, the russians, you name it) were listening and taking photos thru the cam at night, this was a myth part of the old internet. I remember my mom forbid me from having one when I was little until I got to convince her to get me one for school, I still use it so if someone's listening he must be sick of me already lol

 

edit: the only way to stop "them" from listening and taking pics was removing the battery

 

The idea keeps coming up every few years, this is what the theory post says about the same stuff repeating with different formats.

[thrasher_565]

2 minutes ago, Caroline said:

shut it off lol

 

I remember when the first phones with cameras became cheap there were a lot of posts and just people saying "they" (langley, the russians, you name it) were listening and taking photos thru the night, this was a myth part of the old internet. I remember my mom forbid me from having one when I was little until I got to convince her to get me one for school, I still use it so if someone's listening he must be sick of me already lol

 

The idea keeps coming up every few years, this is what the theory post says about the same stuff repeating with different formats.

you do no that photos stores gpus coronets in it right? even before the cellphone. some one has i pic of your face archived.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

6 minutes ago, Papercut Captain said:

Not only that, but they actively punish and persecute different people, while aligned lunatics are free to do whatever they want.

"WHY HELLO I AM MR. RACIST, I SEE YOU WERE HAVING A CHILL TIME ONLINE, BUT I'M GOING TO PRESENT MY VIEWS AS IF THEY ARE DEBATEOF SOME VALUE.  I CONSIDDER THIS TO BE ENTERTAINMENT."

"Racists like you should die."
"EXCUSE ME HIGHLY AUTOMATED MODERATION AI WITH LITTLE HUMAN OVERSIGHT, LOOK AT THIS DEATH THREATS THAT USER HAS MADE AGAINS ME, MR. RACIST."
*User Has Been Suspended For Threatening Other Users*
"NOW I AM OFF TO MAKE A 50 CENT DONATION TO A STREAMER TO MAKE THEIR DONATION VOX BOT SAY 'GAYS FOR HITLER PRESIDENT 2024'."

[Jtalk4456]

I wouldn't call the internet dead anymore than I'd call earth dead. The crust of the earth is less that 1% of the earth's mass, but I'd call earth very alive. I think there is definitely a movement towards smaller circles of content as current generations become more educated, more cynical and skeptical, and more upset by the state of the world around them. As people pool into smaller denser groups, we're gonna have a giant pond with these small specks of life in different corners. That's just the nature of things, doesn't mean the pond is dead. Is it full of bots, sure. Who made those bots? People. now whether there's good life in all corners is another argument entirely, but for better or worse, the internet is nowhere near dead. 

[thrasher_565]

7 minutes ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

"WHY HELLO I AM MR. RACIST, I SEE YOU WERE HAVING A CHILL TIME ONLINE, BUT I'M GOING TO PRESENT MY VIEWS AS IF THEY ARE DEBATEOF SOME VALUE.  I CONSIDDER THIS TO BE ENTERTAINMENT."

"Racists like you should die."
"EXCUSE ME HIGHLY AUTOMATED MODERATION AI WITH LITTLE HUMAN OVERSIGHT, LOOK AT THIS DEATH THREATS THAT USER HAS MADE AGAINS ME, MR. RACIST."
*User Has Been Suspended For Threatening Other Users*
"NOW I AM OFF TO MAKE A 50 CENT DONATION TO A STREAMER TO MAKE THEIR DONATION VOX BOT SAY 'GAYS FOR HITLER PRESIDENT 2024'."

haha remember the msn bot

[thrasher_565]

3 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

I wouldn't call the internet dead anymore than I'd call earth dead. The crust of the earth is less that 1% of the earth's mass, but I'd call earth very alive. I think there is definitely a movement towards smaller circles of content as current generations become more educated, more cynical and skeptical, and more upset by the state of the world around them. As people pool into smaller denser groups, we're gonna have a giant pond with these small specks of life in different corners. That's just the nature of things, doesn't mean the pond is dead. Is it full of bots, sure. Who made those bots? People. now whether there's good life in all corners is another argument entirely, but for better or worse, the internet is nowhere near dead. 

yet....but when every review will be positive and no one will have a say any more then its dead.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

Just now, thrasher_565 said:

haha remember the msn bot

Well, my point is more that moderation on mega sized social media sites is largely automated and/or farmed out to what's almost a click farm to just slim everything for basic criteria, and it's resulted in a situation where a total asshole who's objective is only to ruin everyone else day can technically operate within the rules while being indeed a total asshole who's only objective is to make the user experience worse, and worse, normal people who might simply call that person an asshole can then be banned by being tricked or aggressively falling into only a few select words that do light up the moderation.

You don't see this on smaller sites with actual human moderators who are able to go 'Okay, clearly this is just some asshole who wants to ruin the site regardless of how they word things'

[thrasher_565]

6 minutes ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

Well, my point is more that moderation on mega sized social media sites is largely automated and/or farmed out to what's almost a click farm to just slim everything for basic criteria, and it's resulted in a situation where a total asshole who's objective is only to ruin everyone else day can technically operate within the rules while being indeed a total asshole who's only objective is to make the user experience worse, and worse, normal people who might simply call that person an asshole can then be banned by being tricked or aggressively falling into only a few select words that do light up the moderation.

You don't see this on smaller sites with actual human moderators who are able to go 'Okay, clearly this is just some asshole who wants to ruin the site regardless of how they word things'

ya its like law even if you brake the law if you dont have enough money then you will loses no mater what. everything is a scam even the law has a price.

 

i think when i found out that i can fix my akes and pains was when i started to wake up and found out that i was lied too. only problem now is my faimny thinks im an out cast...and i have to live with that...

Edited May 30, 2021 by thrasher_565

[Caroline]

30 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

you do no that photos stores gpus coronets in it right? even before the cellphone. some one has i pic of your face archived.

it was just a myth.

 

17 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

yet....but when every review will be positive and no one will have a say any more then its dead.

youtube wants to remove dislikes, they could just go ahead and remove the entire comment section to prevent "trolls" from disrupting videos, that's the thing, anyone who disagrees with something is automatically labeled as a troll.

[thrasher_565]

14 minutes ago, Caroline said:

it was just a myth.

no it not...

 

 

14 minutes ago, Caroline said:

it was just a myth.

 

youtube wants to remove dislikes, they could just go ahead and remove the entire comment section to prevent "trolls" from disrupting videos, that's the thing, anyone who disagrees with something is automatically labeled as a troll.

YouTube can do w/e they want with your content. they can block or remove any commit but that just one platform im talking the entire internet. we wouldn't be having the conversation..

Edited May 30, 2021 by thrasher_565

[Radium_Angel]

In the time before social media, everyone had a website with all their own views, pics, personal opinions, etc, with links to other sites they found of interest.

Social media simply concentrated all of that into one centralized location for maximum exposure...for better or for worse.

 

Anyone remember Geocities?

Angelfire?

AOL Keywords?

 

If you want to explore what the 'net has to offer, you have to get off the beaten path, that means stepping away from the social media giants...