The thread explores what the internet has damaged rather than simply changed. Early responses debated whether 'ruin' is the right frame - one argued the internet made practices optional rather than mandatory (evolution, not destruction), while another noted it created vital communities for isolated people. Later responses identify specific casualties: the concept of boredom and uninterrupted existence, the authenticity of friendship amid performative social media, and now expertise itself - the flattening of knowledge hierarchies where TikTok clips carry equal weight to peer-reviewed research in public discourse.