you generally felt a sense of presence with your contacts. You at least knew what to expect, generally, when you messaged somebody. ​ The expectation is the conversation never really ends, but in fact, it never really starts, either.

It was always obvious that trying to see without being seen — to know without being known — was a dead end. Through a screen, personal information is cheap, and unseen seeing is the default. My finger hovers over the icon before I decide that saying “awww,” to myself, alone in my office, seems least likely to cause any unanticipated harm. traded in a problematic status as unpaid content creators for another troublesome status as ambivalent consumers.