redefine

We once celebrated technology as creating a global village. But what we forgot is that the village for most was not a great place to live. The village, with its lightning-fast network of gossip, judgment, and condemnation, was a place that enforced a narrow-minded conformity. And those who wanted to express their individuality, break the social rules, or make different choices were instantly ostracized. Advances in transportation allowed us to more easily escape the village we were born in--to move to cities and more freely express ourselves. The Internet and social media have brought us back to a village from which escape is much more difficult.