serial experiments lain is an anime from 1998 that asks the always relevant question: "what if the internet is like fucked up". it focuses on lain, who slowly becomes more and more interwoven into The Wired, until eventually she loses all sense of identity as her identity in the real world and in The Wired are completely different, and shes not even sure if shes real outside of The Wired man.
as someone who essentially grew up on social media, i really related a lot to lain in many ways. it often felt like i was two different people who interacted in two different, unrelated spaces, and i couldn't get these conflicting identities to match at all. i often felt like i was more "real" on the internet than in real life. i think a lot of neurodivergent queer people can relate to that. its hard to be yourself when you're surrounded by people who say "be yourself!" but then turn around and say "noo not like that" when you actually try being yourself.
nowadays ive essentially given up on social media. i give things a shot sometimes, but i find it hard to be very active on any social media platform. i found that being so active online was harmful to me. because of this, what serial experiments lain says about the harm of being Constantly Connected really resonated with me. and it feels crazy that this message came from 1998, because i feel like its only gotten more accurate and relevant as time passes.