They Killed The Internet

Fake posts and comments across social media, financially motivated answers on independent blogs, and shills scattered across YouTube. The Internet has quickly descended into a maze of pointlessness.

The alternative? -The great wall of propaganda waiting for you in the mainstream. Or an AI machine struggling desperately to depict a reality it can’t conceive.

Where are the independent human voices that once shared a little piece of their world with nothing but a budgeted pixelated camera?

Or those blogs that were so rich with intriguing ideas that the writer couldn’t spare a moment to break up their paragraphs with a simple

.

I used to love finding some grumpy old sod who busied themselves pushing back at the most recent piece of nonsense being spewed out by the mainstream.

But now we have bots being pushed by algorithms, sharing mechanically engineered digital filler in a series of tweets, normally beginning with:

“I copied some information from Wiki or Reddit and wanted to pretend to be an expert for engagement…

A 🧵 – 1/8. “

…it hurts…

This post may contain speculation, personal opinion, and adult comedy. It is not advice and is solely for entertainment and informational purposes.

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Finding Real Voices on the Fake Internet

There are still places to read normal opinions from across the globe, but nowadays, they’re housed within the boundaries of social media platforms.

I like Reddit in particular, but like political parties, social media platforms always seem to band together to oppose or remove any intellectual concept that might challenge the power structure.

What better way to manipulate the masses than to have them believe there are no dissenting voices?

Social media is also littered with AI, shills, and content manipulators. [Reddit]

I believe two forces are gaming the Internet: Greed and Thought Control.

  • Greed is a significant motivator behind many bad websites and YouTube channels. Like in the real world, some people will do or say anything for money, so there is a race to the bottom.
  • Thought Control is generally a mainstream agenda, although we can’t ignore those who seek power and are prone to disseminating their own brand of propaganda.

At the end of the day, I’m not interested in any of it. I’m interested in human beings, in fairness and equality. And, I hate being manipulated, it’s a personality thing; it really irks me!

Together, they saturate and weigh down the Internet.

The situation is so dire that you can’t trust what anybody says.

Not because they might be wrong, but because you can’t trust that it’s their honestly held genuine opinion.

Bad People Use the Internet Too (Managing the Web)

The great wonder of the Internet is that it allows humans to communicate from anywhere on earth.

The great danger of the Internet is that it allows humans to communicate from anywhere on earth.

I often emphasize the intrusive nature of the mainstream infrastructure; however, I believe that some people working within it are trying to improve the world.

You have to stop bad people from transmuting thoughts into actions to achieve that.

For its sins, the Internet is the ideal place for bad actors to communicate and recruit, so the restrictions on social media and the Internet as a whole seem reasonable.

Of course, there is a line to draw.

There is a difference between a citizen who intellectually challenges the status quo and a bad actor with nefarious intent.

Challenging the status quo is how humanity makes progress.

Given the state of the world and the Internet, it’s easy to conclude that the mechanisms designed for bad actors are being applied to citizens.

As a result, in many places, ignorance reigns, as disagreeing voices are simply silenced.

Human Beings Online (Is the Internet Dead?)

I’ve got this vivid memory of using the Internet in the late ’90s.

I was in college and had just finished an IT lesson. Everyone went off to lunch, leaving the classroom empty.

I returned to the room and decided to boot up an iMac G3, [Wiki] visit Yahoo! Chat, and see what the world was saying.

Living through such a momentous time in human history was incredible.

In one moment, the thoughts of the world became accessible.

As a young man, I always imagined that the Internet would drive some sort of mass enlightenment, but instead, all we did was take the Ice Bucket Challenge. [Wiki]

There is room for both, but as someone who remembers the late 80s, I’m staggered that we haven’t made more progress.

Final Thoughts on the Fake Internet

As a blogger, I’m often contacted with offers to publish things for cash. These are things that I might not necessarily agree with.

And when you’re new, it can appear to be a legitimate part of the “business” [and for some, it is].

Of course, we would all like to make money from our content creation since it takes a lot of time and effort to produce.

So when you receive one of these offers, a small voice in your head that happens to sound a lot like Gollum says, “Yes, we shall publish the text and make some precious money”.

That is before another voice starts to go on about integrity… Blah, blah, blah. (Booo!)

My point is to show how some of it happens.

Truth is, anyone can manipulate content anywhere online, and there are many reasons for doing so.

From global companies and world governments to nefarious actors and online chancers. -I suspect everyone’s at it!

Today’s Internet is the consequence of pointless and mostly disingenuous content.

I can’t do much about it but grumble, I guess!

Note: Just before posting I came across something called, the “Dead Internet Theory”, which seems, from initial review, to cover some of the concepts I have discussed in this post. Here it is, as explained by Wiki.


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Copyright: oldcynic.com

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4 Comments

  1. I don’t know, I’m not that worried most of the time. I stick to CNN and a few sites I am familiar with. What worries me is Donald Trump and the end of democracy as we know it.

  2. There’s too much fake stuff on the internet

    Dear Old cynic,

    You are HI, not AI: Your blog takes a human to understand it. 😇

    It is impossible for me to give an opinion – in only one comment – about all you write in this interesting blog of yours; unfortunately “I’m only human” (rag’n’bone man).

    But I would like to start to refer to the first of four novels from mr. Isaac Isamov about robots (AI). He describes the difference in “thinking” between man and robot. In short: we have an infinite manner of interpreting and we can can fantasise the impossible. A robot never will, is it has programs and databases as boundaries. No deep learning can change that. (At least not in the coming decades, as I expect).

    So, we humans are able to read text, analyse it, compare it with our own experience and opinions, check resources to get second opinions and to conclude on it.

    The trouble is, so many people don’t want to. They just copy it. This is a major problem. Why let they limit theirselves? Several possibilities think of I can (Yoda – Star Wars):
    the text confirms their own opinion, “I told you so”
    It takes time and investigation, “too much trouble”
    It takes interest, “why bother”
    It takes courage, “I rather go with the flow”
    The text opposes their own opinion, “I’d rather go blind” (free to Chicken Shack)
    No doubt there will be other reasons.

    Regarding text on internet however I am confident we should be able to filter a reasonable amount of human and non human 💩

    When it comes to pictures and videos on internet, it is a lot more difficult given the modern technology to create or fake.
    I limit myself. Only for amusement and specific education I will search for a vid or a pic on the internet. Internet is not my source for opinions. TV is; but I am aware that many a man and institute have probably a personal agenda or a limited scope on the subject. Comparing additionally opinions from other sources then TV or internet should limit the influence of fake and lies further.

    Conclusion on this part regarding the internet: we need awareness how to NOT use it and embrace the possibilities, like communicate and interact all over the world with real humans. Like you.

    Kind regards,

    Capagi

    Please feel free to adjust language issues/emojis, English is not my native language.

    1. No Capagi, you do very well, I believe your text carries your meaning.

      I’m too jaded with the mainstream. Watching the news is like watching a scripted soap opera to me. I can think of no reason in the world for the powerful people of earth to share any real, meaningful information with commoners, unless they need our participation. And that’s where propaganda comes in 😁.

      As for AI, I think it’s getting better (although, I do not believe in true AI – It is still a program as I understand it). They are currently scanning the internet to “train” it and I’m sure in time it will learn how (/develop enough) to convince the less discerning. But maybe that’s unfair, because it will probably be able to convince us all.

      But we also currently have the fake people behind fake accounts (who will be jobless once AI gets better!).

      I do agree with you about how we as humans process information; it is in our nature to believe what we are told or what is suggested. -It took me decades to refine and distil this level of scepticism.

      ‘Regarding text on internet however I am confident we should be able to filter a reasonable amount of human and non human 💩’ – I hope you’re right! Thank you for sharing such a detailed response to what is a challenging subject!

      Yes, I am a real human and assume you are as well. It has become a thing on Reddit for people to declare that they are not AI… Who would have thought that possible 20 years ago?

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