I put this on marketing since my question fits best here, I thought. Also looked for similar threads but couldn't find anything so I'd love to hear discussion.
For whoever doesn't know what I'm talking about: Dead Internet Theory
As of Apr of 2024 basically half of the traffic in the internet is bots. This means that half of the comments you see online are fake accounts that post stuff, comment on stuff, click links, and even fight with each other in the comment section. We of course are acquainted with the spam ones that are obvious, trying to sell bitcoin scams and whatnot, but a lot of them look like people engaging, too. Some publish fake reviews to promote products. In games, they are used to create fake accounts, hack and maybe level up an account at super speeds and then try to sell said accounts. There's of course also rumors about how basically anyone with power can just push bots to try to push an agenda, which is definitely a possibility, through posting divisive posts, thoughts and what not. This number is expected to grow of course, and (sorry I can't cite the source off the top of my head rn but I can try to find it on request) could reach 99% by 2026.
So I started thinking how is this going to affect trying to interact with your target audience?
If I'm running Facebook ads, how can I account for this skewed engagement numbers when you can't tell which clicks are real, which aren't, which people commenting on your posts are real? Is this person really interested in my product or is this a bot?
If influencers (there's even AI influencers now as we know, lots of accounts are AI generated and make six figures) are trying to create content but half or more of the engagement is bots?
If you start a YouTube/Twitch channel, are your views real? I've heard of "bought views" before.
Could this kill social media platforms as we know it? As more and more people come to this realization, why even interact in SM platforms if you know all comments are bots? Will we see a whole detox movement or are we legit becoming zombies?
Like, why would your average Joe/Jill post a selfie to try to whore for attention and likes if those likes are fake? When I was younger, you posted your thirst trap or Pinterest wedding just to brag to your circles really, nobody was trying to get 1M followers or famous.
Will new "organic" platforms try to be born to meet this "filter the bots" need (if they can)?
Information is so abundant it is becoming impossible to vet it, and I feel people are skeptical even of peer-reviewed things because if you think deep enough you WILL think of a way to doubt the veracity... and with AI even learning from other AI data due to lack of sources, might even be trained with errors. How are we going to find reliable information going forward?
If interacting isn't real, shopping doesn't show you real reviews, creating content gets you a bot audience, information might be crappy, what is the purpose of the internet going forward? What are we going to use it for? Are any types of websites "safe" or still useful?
One of the things that came to my mind is that analog photography/videography might become very big again, because if you need evidence of something, having a film roll is the only way to prove an image isn't AI, right? So for example (use case) any respectable journalist capturing some "gotcha" moment would only be safe if they were using an analog camera!
What do you guys think of all this? I'm approaching it from a point of curiosity, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not trying to identify emerging trends either!
Love
Bella
P.S. This also makes me feel we millenials got the goldilocks era of the internet in a way, lol
For whoever doesn't know what I'm talking about: Dead Internet Theory
As of Apr of 2024 basically half of the traffic in the internet is bots. This means that half of the comments you see online are fake accounts that post stuff, comment on stuff, click links, and even fight with each other in the comment section. We of course are acquainted with the spam ones that are obvious, trying to sell bitcoin scams and whatnot, but a lot of them look like people engaging, too. Some publish fake reviews to promote products. In games, they are used to create fake accounts, hack and maybe level up an account at super speeds and then try to sell said accounts. There's of course also rumors about how basically anyone with power can just push bots to try to push an agenda, which is definitely a possibility, through posting divisive posts, thoughts and what not. This number is expected to grow of course, and (sorry I can't cite the source off the top of my head rn but I can try to find it on request) could reach 99% by 2026.
So I started thinking how is this going to affect trying to interact with your target audience?
If I'm running Facebook ads, how can I account for this skewed engagement numbers when you can't tell which clicks are real, which aren't, which people commenting on your posts are real? Is this person really interested in my product or is this a bot?
If influencers (there's even AI influencers now as we know, lots of accounts are AI generated and make six figures) are trying to create content but half or more of the engagement is bots?
If you start a YouTube/Twitch channel, are your views real? I've heard of "bought views" before.
Could this kill social media platforms as we know it? As more and more people come to this realization, why even interact in SM platforms if you know all comments are bots? Will we see a whole detox movement or are we legit becoming zombies?
Like, why would your average Joe/Jill post a selfie to try to whore for attention and likes if those likes are fake? When I was younger, you posted your thirst trap or Pinterest wedding just to brag to your circles really, nobody was trying to get 1M followers or famous.
Will new "organic" platforms try to be born to meet this "filter the bots" need (if they can)?
Information is so abundant it is becoming impossible to vet it, and I feel people are skeptical even of peer-reviewed things because if you think deep enough you WILL think of a way to doubt the veracity... and with AI even learning from other AI data due to lack of sources, might even be trained with errors. How are we going to find reliable information going forward?
If interacting isn't real, shopping doesn't show you real reviews, creating content gets you a bot audience, information might be crappy, what is the purpose of the internet going forward? What are we going to use it for? Are any types of websites "safe" or still useful?
One of the things that came to my mind is that analog photography/videography might become very big again, because if you need evidence of something, having a film roll is the only way to prove an image isn't AI, right? So for example (use case) any respectable journalist capturing some "gotcha" moment would only be safe if they were using an analog camera!
What do you guys think of all this? I'm approaching it from a point of curiosity, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not trying to identify emerging trends either!
Love
Bella
P.S. This also makes me feel we millenials got the goldilocks era of the internet in a way, lol
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