Microblog Memes

The Internet was once called "the Wild West" when lack of scrutiny was enabling all kinds of things like rampant copyright infringement and thinly veiled pedophilia (see "lolita"). As in the actual wild west, pioneers were inventing new tools to survive and thrive. Brief periods like this are probably normal before entrenched players - whether they're railroads or media giants - roll in and lay down an organizational layer that makes it a lot easier for typical people to participate. In doing so they also tell the government how to regulate the new world to make sure their profit models still work. Then they take credit for the whole thing.