interface 012: THE WIKIPEDIA

The Wikipedia article loads.
You skim the opening sentence automatically, searching for something to anchor yourself to: a date, a location, a definition.

Your eyes jump ahead to the blue links in the first paragraph, already preparing an exit route before you have properly arrived.

THE SYSADMIN:
Wikipedia articles follow a predictable structure. Lead paragraph. Etymology. Categories. Context. Citations.
They are designed to be entered at any point and abandoned at any point, with no sense of completion required other than the act of research or interest.

THE PANOPTICON:
Don’t you feel a small pressure to read properly?
To deserve the information.
To not just harvest it for fragments.

The scrollbar shrinks, drastically. The page is longer than you expected.

Your reflection appears faintly in the dark border of the screen, just enough to remind you that you are being held in place by posture, habit, and the angle of your chair.

The title of the random article delivered to your retinas as if by magic reads Suicide Rate and Prevention Statistics in Hungary. There is a violent and guttural movement in your not-unsubstantial gut. You are reminded that you skipped breakfast this morning, and you are indeed Hungry.

THE PANOPTICON:
Don’t put that in. It is one of those thoughts which should remain a thought.

THE GRIP:
Make sure you get some chunky soup later. Maybe some Halászlé, or some Gulaš. Feel good energy in a bowl just hot enough to warm your palms without scolding them. Reasons to be around.

You think, perhaps, it is about time you went and found some real people.