Slopification, mon amour: How I stopped hating the algorithm and became a sloppy research persona

A multimedia contribution built around the equation “vibes + memes + algorithms = AI slop”, this research explores how algorithmic cultures increasingly target ambiguous affect. Based on empirical analyses of For You Pages across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and X, it challenges what has come to be known as the "dead internet theory" by framing AI slop as a platform-mediated product of human–machine co-creation. Speculative research personas, embedded video walkthroughs, and digital methods provide a novel framework for studying the affective dynamics of synthetic social media. This preprint is a version of a longform produced for and published by the Institute of Network Cultures at https://networkcultures.org/longform/2026/07/01/slopification/