Preface: my online life, in brief

When I was seven, I watched about a minute of Shakira’s music video for her smash hit “Hips Don’t Lie”. Just after the first chorus, my mom walked in and chastised me. Barely protohorny at the time, I reluctantly agreed although it wasn’t like I could see much through the mid-2000s quality video resolution.

In another family, this could have sparked a years-long paranoia, curtailing my “computer time” away from the extreme corners of the internet. Due to some combination of their age and trust in my judgement, my parents took no action. My life in elementary school was still nearly identical to that of my parents – sleepovers, sports leagues,