The Dead Internet Theory

What if most of the internet isn't real? In this episode, we unpack the Dead Internet Theory — from its origins on an obscure vaporwave forum to the Imperva report confirming bots now generate 51% of all web traffic.We follow the trail through Shrimp Jesus engagement farms, Russia's AI-powered disinformation networks, a $2 bot that can flood the web with 10,000 fake comments, and the spectacular 60-day collapse of Digg's relaunch.Along the way, we meet a KGB defector who predicted all of this in 1985, a French president who received a deepfake of his own overthrow, and the CEO of OpenAI getting compared to a man in a hot dog suit.The internet might not be dead — but it's on life support, and the nurses are bots.Got a story of your own? Something unexplained? Something that still keeps you up at night?Send it to [email protected] or message me directly at patreon.com/talesfromthedark. Your story could be next.🔔We would love to see more of you! Head over to Facebook and join the Tales From The Dark group to keep up with up to date information and current investigations!📌If you love the show and want to get more exclusive content, check out our Patreon at patreon.com/talesfromthedark !Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tales-from-the-dark--5003311/support.