What Is The 'Dead Internet Theory'? The Conspiracy Theory People Think Is Coming True On Twitter Explained

Many internet doomers are theorizing that a clandestine takeover of the internet has been underway for the past few years. Born out of anonymous messageboards ripe for this kind of destabilizing thought, the Dead Internet Theory posits the spine-chilling notion that much of the internet, once thought to be a product of human expression and interaction, might actually be under the control of artificial intelligence.

But what was once considered a fringe idea shared online along the veins of a conspiracy theory has now started to come true on one of the internet's biggest social media networks. Here's the origin of the "Dead Internet Theory," and why some people are accusing X of hosting a cacophony of bot accounts that are bringing the idea to life.

Where Does The 'Dead Internet Theory' Originate?

"Dead Internet Theory" likely originates from an anonymous post made on either 4chan or Wizardchan on September 16th, 2019. The post was reshared to 4chan's /x/ board in September 2020, sparking wide discussions.

The post hypothesizes that much of the content on the internet is produced by AI networks, likely run by the government and those in power, along with paid influencers, for the purpose of creating consumers for cultural products. The writer explains the modern internet as a "hot air balloon with nothing inside" as opposed to the internet of 2007 and earlier. As evidence of the theory, the writer mentions:

• Internet users they knew who just vanished from the web one day without a goodbye.
• Claims they see repeated / recycled threads on 4chan, writing, "A [thread] would be posted in 2015 […] then the very same thread, with the same text, pics and replies would appear in 2016 and beyond."
• The evolution of the meme raptor Jesus to bachelor frog to Pepe, writing, "Am I the only one who sees a clear evolution, a link? It's as if this meme or entity[…] was on 4chan since day one and has grown within it from the tiniest seed."
• "Algorithm fiction" and the perceived "sterility" of of fiction that "caters to the lowest common denominator and follows the same template," writing, "algorithms are manufacturing modern fiction."
• The rise of "fake people" online, for example, "Youtube people who talk about this or that," politicians, actors, etc, claiming some of them could be CGI or deepfakes.
• Claims that sometimes, the contents of a web page are entirely different on a phone as opposed to a browser, writing, "entire threads, numerous and well-replied, will be on one but not the other."

How Did The Dead Internet Theory Spread?

Many people convinced by the aforementioned 4chan post set out to prove the theory or posit their own timelines for when this bot "takeover" happened. Agoraroad user IlluminatiPirates shared the post in January 2021 and tried to provide a rough timeline of when and how the internet got taken over by AI. They wrote, "the U.S. government is engaging in an artificial intelligence-powered gaslighting of the entire world population."

In the following year, many YouTubers began posting videos theorizing about the Dead Internet Theory, including All Time and The Why Files, gathering over a million likes altogether.

Why Is The Dead Internet Theory Making A Resurgence On X (Twitter)?

In late 2023, various X users began to notice a frightening trend where every popular post on the website was overrun by seemingly inane replies by blue check accounts. For those not in the know, Twitter, now X, has a subscription blue tick policy where replies from paid "verified" accounts will be pushed to the top of all reply chains to maximize their engagement.

The replies to a November 14th, 2023, post by @poly_psywork contained various discussions about Dead Internet Theory, including a comic by @beetlemoses that parodied replies seen under popular posts.

After X user @PinkieOats posted a screenshot of what appears to be an AI-powered "Twitter Bot" trying and failing to generate a response to a video, X user @Nyazsche posted a comic titled "Dead Internet Theory," gathering over 77,000 likes.

For the full history of Dead Internet Theory, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.