There used to be a time when we never had to question whether we were talking to a human. But these days, it’s highly possible that that “like” on your Instagram post or that post on Reddit wasn’t written by a normal person. In fact, that “person” may not even have a face.
The online world today is crowded with bots. As someone who’s on social media and forums every day as part of her job, I’ve encountered my fair share of them. Admittedly, sometimes I didn’t even know I was talking to a bot.
But over the years, it has become clear as daylight: the internet doesn’t just belong to humans anymore. Today, the internet is a bot’s world—and the dead internet theory is starting to grow some legs. What is this theory, you ask? And what should you or your brand do in response? Let’s talk.
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What is the dead internet theory?
The dead internet theory is the belief that most of the content and accounts online are controlled by bots. We already know that this theory isn’t pure fiction. Almost 50% of web traffic comes from non-human sources, according to a 2024 Imperva Bad Bot report. Not to mention that the number of AI-generated or AI-assisted content is nearly impossible to count.
The real question is whether this trend is worth celebrating or fearing. Are we facing, as some people claim, the death of the internet and a growing graveyard of bad content? Or, are we observing a natural—maybe even healthy—evolution of the internet?
Let’s begin by looking at the definition of a bot and how they typically come to be.
The anatomy of the modern-day bot
The term “bot” is broad. It’s not a singular program or type of code that performs one type of task; it refers to anything made out of code in programming languages like Python, JavaScript or Java that can perform actions that people want to save time on.
Bots have been around since the birth of the internet. In fact, the internet as we know it wouldn’t exist without bots. Think about how Google works: without “good” bots like web crawlers and web spiders, we wouldn’t be able to surf the web as easily as we do today.
Of course, “bad” bots were quick to follow, used for things like click fraud and data theft. While we can’t say that threats don’t exist, perhaps blaming bots is like blaming a sword. Intent is determined by the person who wields the sword, not the sword itself; just because something originated from or as a bot doesn’t mean it’s bad.
The good and bad of online bots as it relates to your business
The good: Bots can be used for a lot of amazing things. They can save lots of time, reduce labor cost and do a lot of our “dirty work.” A lot of companies now use bots to engage and care for their customers, offering more immediate and intelligent live support.
Unlike humans, bots don’t burn out. They don’t need the weekend off. They’re extremely fast learners and quick doers—now more than ever, thanks to AI advancements. If used correctly, they can benefit any business, big or small.
The bad: It’s becoming harder and harder to distinguish between real and fake accounts. They can give us a false sense of what humans are thinking, feeling or doing in the real world. Sudden influxes of bot-like comments, often referred to as "bot attacks" or "spam raids," can hurt our KPIs or be a nightmare to filter through.
And bots (as we all know) can be abused. A seemingly normal and simple action, such as a comment on social media, can be used to steal someone’s identity or collect personal info. Something that looks and acts like a human can spread hate speech, misinform and even cause chaos.
We’ve seen this in various global events, such as political elections and debates, but also at a smaller scale, such as in scam behavior, phishing attempts, identity theft and more.
So, what should brands do? The 3 Bs of bot safety
One thing I’ve learned during my time as brand engagement and brand reputation manager is that you can take some safety measures to avoid falling victim to bad bots. At minimum, you’ll want to:
Be on alert. Are you seeing a suspicious spike in activity around your branded posts? Do you notice people commenting on your blog or social posts with links to a third-party site? Keep an eye out for suspicious bot-fueled activity using different social media monitoring tools and keyword filtering tools. Note that bots may be used to push a political or personal agenda, and even seemingly harmless comments (like an influx of low-quality, generic or disconnected comments flattering your brand) can be linked to bot activity.
Be responsible. Any situation where a bot impersonates a person without disclosing it creates a risk. If you don’t disclose your use of bots (such as chatbots for customer care or to support your marketing strategies), you risk hurting your credibility. Be transparent about any services that are automated; let people know when they’re talking to a human versus a bot.
Be a mentor to your employees. A bot can target employees of a company, just as they can target any private individual, based on one’s political views or social circle. Educate your employees on how to identify fishy behaviors and encourage them to report any suspected bot activity.
Related reading: What is brand management?
Final verdict—are bots a blessing or a curse?
If you ask me, the recent advancements in technology, particularly AI, are incredible. We’re only scratching the surface at the moment. The more we train our AI modules, the better they become—and the better they mimic real human behavior, which can be both a blessing and a curse. (In fact, there are those who say that this new AI frontier is as big as the invention of the internet itself, and today’s top trillion-dollar companies are investing heavily into AI, pioneering the path into uncharted waters.)
The truth is, we can’t run away from this change. It’ll happen whether we like it or not. You’ll always have people that abuse technology for their own gain, in addition to people and forces that rightsize the market again. (We even have good bots protecting us from bad bots today.)
The internet is an ever-evolving place. Rather than taking an apocalyptic view on it, I urge you to educate yourself on both the advantages and risks. Guard yourself from bad actors, but also consider using bots to improve your branding, employee experience and customer experience.