• merthyr1831
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    44
    ·
    4 days ago

    “dead internet theory” is great until the users start acting like it’s not a symptom of the platforms they’re using, and just the reality for all of the internet.

    Reddit, Instagram, Facebook are all websites struggling to maintain user counts which bring ad revenue and investment. Since investors and ad platforms can’t tell between real and fake users, there is MASSIVE incentive to allow bots on your website.

    Moreso for sites like Reddit and Twitter that shit all over their user base and had to quickly mask their haemorrhaging support before the shareholders could complain.

    • mm_maybe@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      4 days ago

      it’s not called “bots” outside of social media but synthetic content is widespread across the rest of the Internet, due to different, but similarly large incentives. So no, it’s not just a FB/Reddit/Meta etc. problem.

      • Sonor@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        4 days ago

        I always kinda wondered about who would maintain the most widely known nsfw subreddits, and who the users in real life were who (like pepsi_next in the olden days) would spend all their days posting on them

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      4 days ago

      Maybe it’s the money that is the culprit.

      What about an internet where nobody won’t earn money? Is that an utopia or what :-)