The common realization that things on the Internet are forever causes a terrible amount of sanitization of our opinions and beliefs. It seems like the great li

The common realization that things on the Internet are forever causes a terrible amount of sanitization of our opinions and beliefs. It seems like the great lie of social media was that it would open up and democratize communication, encouraging people to speak up and speak out on issues important to them. Instead what we ended up with is big companies getting even more of a megaphone than before, giving people the illusion of having a voice (only to find that when everyone has a megaphone, only the loudest and most attacking voices or the most hive-minded comments get perpetuated). And everyone has to constantly preen and groom their "social media presence" because it's all about cultivating a personal brand.