Social networking gave humans the ability to exist as multiple personae, in multiple spaces, as they do in real life: the friend; the employee; the father; the daughter. But now the searchability, explicitness, permanentness and globalisation of these platforms means the walls between these different projections of self are falling down and people are looking for a way to regain control. Software is now emerging to cater for this fear. Web 2.0 Suicide Machine and Seppukoo help the user return to a pre-internet existence, permanently deleting all profiles, friends, and messages on Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter. 

This is bad news for brands such as Fanta and Yahoo!, which use social networking extensively, and sometimes exclusively, in promotional and brand-building campaigns. But they needn't worry for long, as the next generation, 'Generation Alpha', will have no notion of a solely offline existence. An online presence will not be an 'option', as it is for the baby boomer and gen-y; it won't be something you 'set up', it will be a way of life, and software such as Web 2.0 Suicide Machine will have no place in that world.

Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus, makes some interesting points to the BBC, concluding that we should look at the medium, its disadvantages and advantages, and work out how we can maximise the former and minimize the latter, based on the way the world is right now. Wise words from a man who realises that in the 21st century, 'opting out' is not really an option.