‏بوكيبلينكي

One of the only places where they didn't have to worry about harm, where they could experiment with expressing themselves

They formed communities, fell in love, made enemies, made *culture* that was (mostly) entirely invisible to their families and peers

Many found strength in these communities. These intangible friends helped keep them alive through rough times, literally.

So, when Microsoft runs commercials showing cute babies and speculating on how they will use the internet, it is ominous.

That commercial shows enough babies that one is almost certainly queer. Will that baby get a safe space? Will they have a retreat from irl?

Will that baby ever know the relief that comes from connecting to someone across the country, who can reassure you that you're valid?

Will that baby ever have somewhere *safe* to exist, unregulated by all those authority figures interfering with their life?

It doesn't look like it. They'll be surveilled in countless ways, some of which will go to parents and their schools.

They'll grow up with cis classmates, also surveilled, who have normalized it and who never needed a safe space so badly.

They'll lack the freedom to socialize, that up til recently everyone but the children of the most abusively strict parents possessed.

The prospect of the first generation with the internet, who cannot and will not view it as a safe space, is terrifying.

@pookleblinky I didn't have the Internet as a kid unfortunately