As soon as I uploaded the virus, that was it. It was out of my hands and into those of the so-called netizens. It would have been easy for them to stop my rogue code. All they had to do was stop using social media for 24 hours. But, that was too hard. In the end they had to feed their addiction, even if it meant destroying what they desired.

I deliberately chose the largest, most famous of the social networking sites as my target. If I wanted my virus to spread as quickly as possible, then it was the logical choice. There were other, more personal reasons behind my choice, though. I hated the way that they had replaced face-to-face contact, the way that people would rather examine their mobile phones for status updates than talk to members of their family sitting next to them. I hated the way they treated the information that had been entrusted to them, even harvesting data from people who had not signed up for their services.

Then there was the attitude the owners of that network had towards their users. The company executives treated the public with contempt: lying and shirking responsibilities. Even the authorities of the countries they operated in were treated with scorn as questions went unanswered and taxes went unpaid.

I know other companies were equally as guilty of these offences, so why did I pick on the social networks? Why did I choose them as the targets for my anger? The difference was that the social media companies had insinuated themselves into our lives so completely that they had become almost essential. They had declared themselves as the arbiters of our identities. Anyone they suspected of using a false name was locked out until it could be proven - to their satisfaction! - that you were who said you were. They had become the gatekeepers to services. Anyone who wanted to log onto a website had to use their social media details to do so. Then those in power had used the social networks as their official means of communication. Presidents and prime ministers would issue decrees, while expecting us to follow them but not criticise them. Finally, the social networks became the arbiters what was right and what was wrong. It didn't matter that kind of person you were in the real world. If you didn't have the requisite number of followers, you were nobody. If you were somebody like me - somebody who refused to engage with the social media companies in any way - then you were a pariah.

My virus spread quickly. It spread through the links people created and the files they shared. As it went, it left a trail of scrambled data and encrypted files that made further communications impossible. As I watched the code spread, I was amazed to see how much the social media networks had consumed of the internet. They were everywhere. In the end, only the secure systems were left: e-mail, commerce and banking still worked; government websites too. But the rest of the internet - all those systems that had been parasitised by the social networks - were gone: encrypted in 1024 bits of entropy.

I had no regrets then for what | did, and I have no regrets now. One day, people will understand.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel, because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.