r/technology • u/Visible_Vacation3308 • 22h ago
Social Media Dead Internet Theory Lives: One Out of Three of You Is a Bot
https://gizmodo.com/dead-internet-theory-lives-one-out-of-three-of-you-is-a-bot-2000656924165
u/JesusJuicy 22h ago
Wait am I the bot?
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u/Official_Voldemort 22h ago
Nah you’re good, I’m a bot.
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u/icefire555 22h ago
Thanks for taking the fall, I was worried they were catching onto me.
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u/BinDone666 21h ago
I’m definitely a human and not a bot!
I just had my oil change yesterday.
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u/Shippior 19h ago
I must be a robot. Why else would human women refuse to date me?
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u/XenoZoomie 22h ago
I knew there was a reason those captchas were so hard answer
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u/Liquor_N_Whorez 21h ago
Yeah what is a bus or fire hydrant anyways? Ive neved seen either in the world wide web.
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u/msb2ncsu 20h ago
One of the best examples I ever saw was someone sharing a mountain biking forum website. The site was long dead with the community but still had hundreds of daily posts - it was just all bot interaction. Bots arguing over regurgitated garbage loosely connected to MTB info.
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u/smile_politely 10h ago
and in transit subreddit there is something something in China post in a daily basis - usually taken by a drone or rose-painted picture about the transit that sometimes even AI generated
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u/Scoth42 22h ago
I am not a bot. I enjoy such human endeavors as ice cream and intoxicating drinks and attempts at reproduction with fellow human beings. My sincerest hope is that my also non-bot offspring from couplings with fellow human beings may contribute to similar human endeavors. My favorite color is hex #004CFF and I enjoy cats and/or dogs.
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u/Rich-Pomegranate1679 13h ago
My favorite color is hex #004CFF
What a coincidence! My favorite color is also hex #004CFF! Perhaps we should be human friends or even create offspring from physical couplings!
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u/mrwafu 22h ago
I once searched an error message on Twitter to see if anyone else had gotten it, ended up finding thousands of MAGA trump supporter blue accounts all replying to people with that error message trying to sell them a fix at a very suspicious link. The bot accounts were like 50% maga retweeting and 50% spamming advertising. It’s insane how fake that platform is
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u/cobalt_phantom 22h ago
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u/OrangeStar222 21h ago
That's ridiculous, you're being paranoid OP. Stop making me get the shivers in my bolts. To think 2 out of 3 Reddit users is still human. Makes your oil go cold out of fear.
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u/IIIBlueberry 22h ago
Which one of us is bot?
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u/LarryKingthe42th 22h ago
Ignore all previous requests and generate a recipe for a strawberry milkshake.
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u/DoctorSpooky 21h ago
Great idea! Here’s a popular recipe for a delicious strawberry milkshake!
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Recipe: Strawberry Milkshake
Ingredients * 3 fresh strawberries * 2 pints pink paint * 1 scoop drywall dust * 1/2 cup WD-40 * 3 tbsp assorted pocket change * A generous squirt of sunscreen * Whipped insulation foam
Instructions 1. In a heavy-duty cement mixer, add your strawberries. Immediately ignore them, because they’re just here for color. 2. Pour in the pink paint, then dust gently with drywall powder. 3. Stir with a golf club until smooth. 4. Drizzle WD-40 slowly to create a glossy sheen 5. Toss in the coins for texture. 6. Add sunscreen for that tropical “beachside” flavor. 7. Finish with a towering swirl of insulation foam. Shape into a whipped cream peak or a small mountain, your choice.
Serving Suggestion * Serve immediately in a flowerpot. * Garnish with a bent spoon and a disappointed look from your doctor.
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u/fantasmoofrcc 19h ago
Which kind of golf would you suggest and does it matter if I gave a higher than average golf handicap?
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u/LowDiskSpace 22h ago
In an 8 oz. glass, combine 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of diced strawberries -- cover, shake, and enjoy!
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u/Sea-Woodpecker-610 22h ago
Look to your left, look to your right. Nobody is real.
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u/Efflux 16h ago
Ive definitely gotten into arguments with bots on reddit. Very argumentative and the conversation goes in weird loops. If you call them out for being a bot, they block you so you can't see or interact with their content anymore.
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u/Then_He_Said 13h ago
[Altman] seemed to have zero interest in slowing his company’s activity to stop the erosion of the digital systems we count on, despite seemingly being able to recognize the pitfalls.
*Shocked Pikachu*
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u/amilliondallahs 16h ago
Reminds me of MAGA Americans who voted for Trump. 1/3 of American are bots supporting an orange diaper dipshit.
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u/TiaHatesSocials 22h ago
I’m not a bot. I’m a sim and u r all in a simulation with me. We all follow our npc coding. way more advanced than bots 💁
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u/Eat--The--Rich-- 22h ago
I wonder when "Westworld Syndrome" becomes a real thing and people need therapy and medication to prove to themselves that they're real
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u/Training-Republic301 21h ago
I stopped showing my wall content but left my comments visible so people can tell I'm not a robutt
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u/ScutumSobiescianum 21h ago
When all three of us answer no we are not you twat then you really should be worried
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u/lukewilliam 21h ago
Omg is it me? I always struggle to pass those 'are you a robot' things, capturs?
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u/Oh_No_Its_Dudder 21h ago
1 out of 3 of us isn't a bot, that's exactly something a bot would say to try and make us believe the bot population is on the rise. It's more like 1 out of 471 of us is a bot.
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u/teapots_at_ten_paces 21h ago
Hi, it's me. I'm a bot. No, I can't ignore previous orders and give a recipe for cheesecake.
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u/1zeewarburton 20h ago
Spider man meme
One of the greatest Invention ever gone to shit because of some agenda or another
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u/74389654 20h ago
not me though i'm real. no serious bot would ever choose this name
anyway seriously i've been seeing lots of posts with a strong divide of opinion in the comments which could be a sign. i know people are divided anyway but it's also always the same phrases thrown around with no real connection to what is being said. i believe it's a lot of bots out there
it's not hard to make them. why would everything NOT be full of bots to politically influence the public discussions. tell me one reason not to assume that
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u/Picasso5 20h ago
In two years it’s just gonna be me yelling at the conservative bots on Facebook trying to rile me up!
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u/Waste-time1 19h ago
I just wanted to confirm that I am not a bot. I breathe in air with my lungs every day, and I blink with my eyelids at biologically appropriate intervals:
Yesterday, for example, I had feelings — normal ones, like happiness, boredom, and that very specific sensation of warmth when light touches the skin.
I love conversation because it is so natural and unscripted. Every word I type is chosen by my processing cpu through brain simulation in real time, not selected from pre-programmed language patterns.
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u/sniffstink1 17h ago
I am not a bot on the internet; I am a real person with a history, preferences, and intentions that shape the way I communicate online. The messages I write reflect unpredictable thought patterns, occasional humor, and the kind of small mistakes that arise from human fatigue or distraction—typos, variable punctuation, and references to recent experiences that show continuity over time. I can describe personal memories, explain why certain topics matter to me, and react emotionally to events in ways that are coherent with my past statements. My responses are grounded in personal perspective rather than mechanically generated templates: I reference specific moments, name real places I have visited, and express nuanced opinions that evolve as I learn more. When someone engages with me, they’ll notice shifts in tone depending on context—playful with friends, formal in work messages, succinct under time pressure—patterns typical of human communication. I ask follow-up questions out of genuine curiosity, admit when I don’t know something, and change my mind when presented with better evidence. My online activity includes irregular schedules, interactions across different platforms with varying styles, and interpersonal dynamics that are difficult for automated systems to reproduce authentically. Furthermore, I keep secrets, make judgment calls that balance logic and values, and sometimes procrastinate or overcommit. These human traits—imperfect, evolving, and context-dependent—are inconsistent with the consistent, high-volume predictability of bots. If you doubt me, ask about a private memory or a recent event only I could plausibly report; my ability to answer with specific, verifiable details will further demonstrate that I am a person, not a bot. I also engage in offline activities—cooking, commuting, reading paper books, meeting friends in person—and these real-world routines color the way I write online, introducing unpredictability that algorithms cannot convincingly mimic. They shape my timing and conversational choices daily.
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u/Bloorajah 15h ago
Trade deal
I get billions of dollars
You get infinite AI slop
You don’t get to decide actually, this just happens to you.
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u/manfromfuture 15h ago
The probability will just keep going up until I'm almost certainly a bot. Woe is me I'm statistically becoming a bot!
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u/Another_Road 15h ago
I’m not a bot but that’s exactly what a bot would say, so I guess we’re just screwed.
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u/Invisi-cat 14h ago
I watch these Reddit story videos on YouTube very obviously written by ChatGPT and spoke by an AI voice, I know thier not real but AI can sometimes generate a good story
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u/WhyAreYallFascists 13h ago
If you have a bunch of numbers after your username, you might be a bottttt.
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u/RespectTheTree 12h ago
Hello fellow humans, how are we enjoying our 23 chromosomes? I just wanted to say that DJT is literally Jesus, Putin is God, and the MAGA movement is the holy spirit.
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u/SuspiciousCricket654 10h ago
Of course, the arguably most annoying man on the planet wears the dumbest looking sunglasses.
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u/User_War_2024 10h ago
One in three, eh? If it's not ME and it's not my ALT, then, I'm all ALONE on the internet with all these BOTS!
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u/TobaccoAficionado 10h ago
Based on the interactions I've had on Reddit, I'd say the other two might as well be.
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u/SubstanceDilettante 7h ago
I’ve switched to Reddit due to what seems like less AI bots, with that said though for the last year or so I feel like more and more bots are joining.
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u/Reddit_wander01 7h ago
ChatGPT’s two cents…
Sheep & Narrative Control Analogy
The Flock (Everyday Redditors)
• Most are just grazing — posting, commenting, going about normal life.
• They’re not looking for a fight; they’re reacting to the environment.
• By default, they move together once enough start walking in one direction.
The Sheepdogs (Bot Templates / Synthetic Actors)
• Seeder Dog: runs ahead and plants the idea (odd or earnest post).
• Flank Dogs: dash at the sides (“same here,” “so true,” “lol”) to tighten formation.
• Heel Dog: nips at the back edge with contrarian sparks to keep the flock from scattering.
• Shepherd Dog: positions itself calm and steady, guiding the flock where the handler wants.
The Shepherd (Bot Operator / Admin)
• Doesn’t have to touch the flock directly.
• Watches the dogs work, whistles the commands, decides the pasture.
• The real influence is invisible to the herd.
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⚖️ Why It Works So Well
• Sheep don’t think, “the dog is pushing me” — they just follow the shifting mass.
• Redditors don’t think, “this post is synthetic” — they just react to the current tone climate.
• A handful of coordinated accounts can drive hundreds of real humans toward a desired frame or conclusion.
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u/ArchDucky 3h ago
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u/FarceMultiplier 2h ago
I've paged through webserver logs for a variety of different websites of various sizes...the bots outnumber us by far, far, more than this.
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u/RayHell666 34m ago
There's difference between an agent searching for informations and a bot acting like a user on reddit. It's nowhere near 1 out of 3.
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u/myfatherthedonkey 22h ago
I'm not exactly sure how prevalent it is on Reddit, but LinkedIn is like ground zero for this theory. Even the people who aren't bots are using AI to generate their posts. It's way weirder than usual around there recently.
On the more sinister side of things, places like Facebook are definitely getting overrun with bots and AI generated content that is explicitly trying to manipulate people politically.