So why do we come here
To this digital huddle
I suppose for each of us
The reasons are our own
We started with old friends
And neighbors from childhood
Then sifted through memories
For people we have known
With best of intentions
We joined this convention
Where opinions flow freely
For better and for worse
Then came the surprises
Fantastic and shocking
From fingertips of beauty
To twisted and perverse
So boundaries were set
To clean up our scrolling
Personal sets of guidelines
For how we ought to play
Most choose propriety
Nothing controversial
Revealing their persuasions
In all they do not say
Career folks play it safe
Married to their stations
Censored as professionals
They’re bound to not offend
Photos of their children
Newborn pups and kittens
Selfies from exotic trips
That seem to never end
Some project an image
From bygone aspirations
An endless list of rockstars
Who never wrote a song
Those out on the fringes
Otherwise left voiceless
Finally have an audience
And feel like they belong
Faces light on courage
Are magnified in might
Cloaked in anonymity
True colors start to show
Some seek self promotion
With shotgun friend requests
Harvesting the counts they build
Of people they don’t know
Fewer are the shameless
Who come to bare their souls
With spinning naked handstands
And matters of the heart
Last are the destroyers
Who fill their page with lies
Promoting the divisions
That tear our house apart
A deluge of the senses
Left open to translation
Streams of unchecked influence
Left to interpretation
Take the good and leave the bad
By changing the equation
Algorithms meant to join
Have led to separation
– Rondym Kiefe