We’re in complete control. Or, at the very least, we find this mantra comforting in these anxious times. Any time we open a browser, we feel that the possibilities are endless. We believe that the decisions we make online are choices that we own, choices we shape along the way.

However, as our sailboats approach the horizon, we violently halt. In this reality, the horizon isn’t infinite at all, and we crash into the boundary of our little world. Suddenly we notice that the clouds are merely projections and the ocean around us is ankle-deep. There’s even a camouflaged staircase leading to an unlocked door. We realize that we’re on the Truman Show.¹ We’re left thinking, “Where have we been this whole time?” and “What does all this mean?”

This experience can feel so authoritarian; suddenly, we’re in an Orwellian world where our hearts and minds are being controlled through our devices. We are left questioning what’s real and who’s in control. While there’s a warning within this dim, satirical futurism, I think there’s no better time than now for us to realize our boundaries online and to find liberation in a new reality.

I’d like to start with an alternate view of our present reality:

Most online platforms thrive on a false sense of autonomy.

What presents itself as an infinite landscape of free choice is more of a highly engineered, two-dimensional plane of options. In this reality you are free to choose, as long as it’s one of the options provided.