Our lives and identities have moved online – and it’s driving us insane

‘You hardly notice how, over time, the world outside has shrunk, until soon there is no outside world.’ Photograph: Anna Barclay/Getty Images

Think of your online life as a garden. At first it’s just a few seeds here or there – a Facebook profile where you created entire albums from a night at the pub, or maybe a Tumblr or a Myspace page listing your favourite bands. It is fun – something just for you and your friends to enjoy.

Then the garden grows. You get an Instagram account and document moments from each day on Stories, use LinkedIn for networking and sharing career triumphs, and check your X/Twitter hyper-vigilantly in case you wrote something that just got you cancelled.