Have you ever been scrolling through social media, read a comment thread, or looked at a stunningly perfect profile picture and felt... off?

There's a growing sense of unreality online. That comment that's just a little too generic? That news article that feels strangely hollow? That viral video that seems just a bit too polished? You're not alone in this feeling, and there's a name for this collective unease: the "Dead Internet Theory."

It's a chilling prophecy, and I'm becoming more convinced we're watching it unfold in real-time.

The theory, in a nutshell, is this: the "real," human-generated internet is already a thing of the past. It's been overrun. The vast majority of what we see, read, and interact with is, or soon will be, generated by AI.

It's not just spam emails anymore. We're talking about AI-generated articles, AI-generated images that win art contests, and deepfake videos that are indistinguishable from reality. More insidiously, we're talking about the conversations themselves. Automated bot farms flood comment sections to simulate consensus, drive outrage, or sell products. AI-driven social media accounts post, comment, and "like" with the sole purpose of appearing human.

This is where the "dead" part comes in. It's not that the servers are off; it's that the humanity is gone, buried under an avalanche of synthetic content.

The immediate consequence is the one we're all starting to feel: the total erosion of trust.

If anything can be faked—a voice, a video of a world leader, a heartfelt personal story, a scientific-looking report—then nothing can be trusted. The very foundation of the internet as a tool for information and connection begins to crumble. We can no longer directly accept what's published as "fact." Every piece of content, every "viral" trend, every news story is now viewed through a lens of suspicion. "Is this real? Is this an AI? Who benefits from me believing this?"

This, I believe, leads to the great fragmentation.

When the global "town square" (like Twitter/X, Facebook, or Reddit) is perceived as a polluted, untrustworthy space filled with bots and fakes, people will not stay. They will leave.

Where will they go?

They will retreat into smaller, private, high-trust communities. Think of it as a digital exodus from the "public internet" to "private internets." These will be the small, closed forums, the invite-only Discord servers, the password-protected group chats, and the niche subscription newsletters where every member is known or vouched for.

In these digital silos, trust can be rebuilt because the community is small enough to be verified. You know the other people are real. The irony is staggering. The internet, the great tool that was meant to connect the entire globe and democratize information, may ultimately defeat its own purpose.

We built it to create a global village, but we may end up in a series of small, disconnected, digital fortresses, just to find a quiet place where we can be sure we're talking to another human being. The "world wide web" might be ending, replaced by a constellation of tiny, trusted worlds.

Let me know your thoughts on this