Slop will be invading social networks in 2025. Find out why this scourge of mediocre AI images worries Internet users, and how to protect yourself effectively.
Imagine opening your favorite app and being bombarded by an avalanche of grotesque, poorly crafted, and often absurd images. Deformed faces, improbable vegetable sculptures, or even recipes worthy of a failed experiment. You've probably seen these images before, but did you know they have a name? It's called "slop." In 2025, slop has become a real scourge for social media, flooding our news feeds with poor-quality AI content. Slop is no longer just a marginal curiosity: it's everywhere, and its consequences are far more serious than we imagine.
Slop: A flood of AI images that disfigures the internet
Slop is the most visible manifestation of the uncontrolled proliferation of generative artificial intelligence. Behind the word "slop," which evokes a vile, mass-produced mush, lies an alarming digital reality. Slop is defined as the deluge of images or content automatically generated by AI, with no regard for veracity, quality, or aesthetics. Pinterest, for example, up to 70 % of the images would come from the slop, notes an investigation by the Figaro recent.
Slop is rife on every platform. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), no social network is spared. Slop attracts users with its unusual, funny, or simply absurd side. But behind slop's apparent harmlessness lie far less benevolent intentions. Slop exploits human curiosity to trap less sophisticated users.
Why is slop proliferating so quickly on social media?
Slop is a direct consequence of the democratization of artificial intelligence tools. Today, anyone can generate hundreds of images in a matter of seconds via accessible platforms. These images, often poorly produced, become slop once published en masse.
What slop creators are after is virality at all costs. Slop is calibrated to be liked, commented on, and shared, even if it's grotesque. Worse still, slop is sometimes used by cybercriminals to test Internet users' responsiveness to questionable content before offering them real scams.
Slop thus becomes a misguided marketing tool. It drowns authentic publications under a tsunami of AI mediocrity, making verified content difficult to access. Slop threatens the digital ecosystem as a whole.
Slop and loss of information quality
Slop isn't limited to just absurd images. It's also infiltrating search engines and publishing platforms. With Google's integration of AI tools like Gemini, users are presented with "AI Overviews" that summarize their searches. The problem? These summaries are often flawed, perfectly illustrating the dangers of slop.
This phenomenon is transforming the way we consume information. Slop produces passive, mindless consumption. Internet users are easily trapped by the overabundance of content ready to be effortlessly enjoyed, even if it's false or poorly written. Slop impoverishes our digital experience.
The Hidden Dangers of Slop: Beyond Just Spam
Slop is sometimes compared to 1990s spam. But slop goes further: it disguises itself as playful and entertaining to better manipulate Internet users. A baguette sculpture or a cat in a costume may seem amusing, but behind it sometimes lie well-honed strategies to capture your attention and influence your behavior.
Online sales platforms are not spared from the slop. Amazon is full of books written entirely by AI and riddled with errors. Thanks to recommendation algorithms, these sloppy works can even appear before real publications, pushing the work of human authors into the background.
How to spot slop and protect yourself effectively
The first trick to spotting slop is to carefully observe the details of the images. Experts recommend focusing on the pupils and eyes of the characters. Slop still struggles to reproduce these anatomical subtleties. Also, always check the source of the image or content. A journalist or reputable media outlet has too much to lose by broadcasting slop.
Another essential recommendation: cross-reference information. If a piece of content seems dubious, research it on several platforms before giving it any credence. Finally, educate those around you. Slop often exploits the most vulnerable users, especially those less familiar with new technologies.
Our opinion
Slop is much more than a passing fad on social media. In 2025, slop has become a veritable digital scourge, polluting our news feeds, drowning out verified information, and undermining our critical thinking. It's urgent to raise awareness among internet users about its dangers and learn how to spot slop before it irreparably distorts our relationship with digital technology.
Platforms also have a role to play in curbing the spread of slop. By better filtering AI content and promoting authentic human creations, they can help clean up our online experience.
At ValueYourNetworkAs influencer marketing experts since 2016, we've been closely monitoring the evolution of these digital trends. Our dozens of successful social media campaigns allow us to support our clients as they navigate these new challenges. Let's remain vigilant together and continue to prioritize authenticity in the digital jungle.