“The “Dead Internet Theory” is a concept suggesting that the internet has largely been abandoned by humans and replaced by non-human activity. It posits that most online content, interactions, and engagement metrics are driven by bots, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, creating the illusion of a vibrant, human-driven web.”

  • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    I believe in live internet theory. Bots are rare and relatively easy to detect, nearly every account I interact with online is a real person.

    People just use the bot thing as a way of explaining away contrary views. I don’t need that explanation, because I have this crazy idea that actual human beings can believe different things and even be wrong.

    • placebo@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      I agree, in principle, that people call other people bots as a way to insult them. But this is just survivorship bias:

      Bots are relatively easy to detect

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Sure, I can’t know if there are bots that are really good at imitating people. But it’s my choice to go them the benefit of the doubt.

        I think the most likely case of encountering a non-obvious bot would be if there’s a human behind it copy-pasting responses, which means there’s still some degree of engagement. If you don’t tailor it to the specific context and don’t double check it, it’s likely not going to be that convincing.

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Funny thing, I actually got banned from Twitter ages ago because I just made an account lurk and follow some political accounts and I didn’t Tweet anything or customize my avatar, so it looked exactly like I was a bot follower to boost numbers.