The Rise and Fall of “Social” Media

Broken promises of an ever-connected utopia we don’t even want

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire — Destruction (1836)

Imagine a future in which your Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook feeds are so polluted with content by corporate interests that it’s nearly impossible to excavate the posts by your friends and family: the real people with whom we were promised social media would make it easier to “stay connected.”