It’s much easier to believe in our importance when we view ourselves within small contexts. Through its networks and groups, Facebook simplifies the globalized world into manageable cyber-villages, with many of the costs and benefits of real villages, from the lack of privacy to the comfort of being recognized. The difference is that on Facebook, each of us gets to rule our own village, inviting and expelling members as we see fit.

Johnny Thakkar in “The Withering of Narcissus: Playing Tyrant on the Internet” for The Point (via britticisms) (via somethingchanged)