Cliff Watson:

You see, we’ve come to define “social” in unintentional Orwellian double-speak. “Social” has come to mean the exact opposite of what it’s meant for centuries. Instead of actual interaction and communication, we define “social” as once- or twice-removed ego validation through button-clicking.

When we’ve come to understand “social” as meaning “corporate-mediated communications, within defined parameters, interruptible by branded messages”, one is rather tempted to despair about humanity…

However, it makes it rather plain that the clock is ticking on “social” as we know it right now, and that’s a good thing. I’ve just seen a community I’m a member of almost wiped out by a single troll and some automatic button-pushing at Facebook. That’s no way to build a sustainable set of relationships.