Talk:Dead Internet theory

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Relevance of music removals

@SoundEnman1: and I seem to be reverting one another repeatedly at Dead Internet theory, so I think it's time to bring this here per Wikipedia's WP:BRD policy so there can be some resolution on this.

An explanation for why I've been removing it: I've been removing the music stuff because it simply has nothing to do with the Dead Internet theory. Yes, it's artificial manipulation of the sort the Dead Internet theory discusses, but there is no mention of the Dead Internet theory or anything like it in the source given, and therefore nothing to link it to this article. Connecting the two is simply original research, which is not allowed on Wikipedia.

SoundEnman1 has also been changing the wording "conspiracy theory" to just "theory". However, the use of "conspiracy theory" is directly supported by the sources I've given, per the verifiability policy.

@SoundEnman1:, would you like to put forward your rationale for your edits? I'd also be interested to hear what other editors have to say. — The Anome (talk) 10:12, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, nice to finally get a chance to talk to you. My first time on this Talk function, so let's see if I use it correctly. Removal of the music section is a good point, that can moved somewhere. But I would still prefer it's called a "theory" but itself. I looked at the sources and it's just an opinion of the author without any proper evidence. "Conspiracy theory" is often haphazardly thrown around whenever (1) because it's trendy to explain something unexplainable as that and/or (2) authors employ it as clickbait. "Theory" is better in my opinion because it's neutral and doesn't have the baggage that's associated with "conspiracy." SoundEnman1 (talk) 12:35, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@SoundEnman1: Hi. It's good to talk to you too. I think that's a reasonable compromise; leave "conspiracy" out, and remove the music stuff, and I'd be happy to go with that. The music stuff certainly belongs somewhere in another article, or might even merit an article itself if it's sufficiently notable.

The thing I find fascinating is that what makes the Dead Internet theory appealing is that it is actually partially true -- a significant amount of the activity on the Internet is now inauthentic and machine-generated, as part of the interlocking and self-reinforcing feedback loops of the advertising/SEO/content-farming/article-spinning/bot/propaganda ecosystem -- but not nearly as much as the theory suggests. — The Anome (talk) 07:16, 14 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I think the fake music traffic is actually a perfect illustration of how the theory is partially true, but it needs to be explicitly linked in the writing of the article. In my experience, that kind of thing is done on Wikipedia all the time without the need for the reliable source to make the connection for us. And in general, I would like to see this entry expanded, because the explanations of it that exist online are all poor, compared with the obvious power of the original idea, as evidenced by how far it has spread from its origins and how often it comes up. Planetjanet (talk) 02:19, 16 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]