I have to admit to being slightly dismissive when I first heard about Paul leaving “The Internet”. My first reaction was similar to that I have whenever someone tells me they don’t own a, nor watch TV (but then invariably watch programmes made for TV through other means). “Leaving The Internet” read to me like: “The Internet is so dumb. I’m too cool for the Internet and all you Internet losers!”
The raw honesty Paul has poured into this article makes me realise how stupid and defensive people (read: me) can be when challenged. We like to assign agency to, and then to blame, external entities for our own failings, and it seemed to me like Paul was using “The Internet” as an excuse: treating it as if it were something that was actually capable of being responsible for anything. Maybe he did, but I was doing the exact same thing with him leaving “The Internet”.