When satellite radio was still relatively novel, about twenty years ago, the late comedian Mitch Hedberg told a story about doing an XM interview and learning he was allowed to swear during the segment. He observed that this wasn't surprising because no one was actually listening to XM Radio: "You can swear in the woods too." Unlike satellite radio, Facebook never had an unpopular phase, at least according to its creation myth—it was instantly popular and grew quickly—but in terms of its expected impact on society, a dorm-room version of "Hot or Not" began similarly in the woods, a place where everything was basically OK because only college students were using it. When Facebook arrived on my campus in 2004 and people immediately started spending six hours a day checking profiles and poking one another, there was clearly something powerful about the platform, but no one foresaw the site's eventual embroilment in some of the world's biggest problems.
#49: Swearing in the Woods
#49: Swearing in the Woods
#49: Swearing in the Woods
When satellite radio was still relatively novel, about twenty years ago, the late comedian Mitch Hedberg told a story about doing an XM interview and learning he was allowed to swear during the segment. He observed that this wasn't surprising because no one was actually listening to XM Radio: "You can swear in the woods too." Unlike satellite radio, Facebook never had an unpopular phase, at least according to its creation myth—it was instantly popular and grew quickly—but in terms of its expected impact on society, a dorm-room version of "Hot or Not" began similarly in the woods, a place where everything was basically OK because only college students were using it. When Facebook arrived on my campus in 2004 and people immediately started spending six hours a day checking profiles and poking one another, there was clearly something powerful about the platform, but no one foresaw the site's eventual embroilment in some of the world's biggest problems.