The Internet may have a wide reach but there is also an awful signal-to-noise ratio. You can say whatever you want and share it with your friends but that doesn

The Internet may have a wide reach but there is also an awful signal-to-noise ratio. You can say whatever you want and share it with your friends but that doesn't mean they will share it or even read it. So given that, I don't think the semi-frictionless free expression is all that different from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" leaflets of the late 18th century.