Have I wasted my life?

I can remember exactly when I figured out what I wanted to do with my adult life. I was working overnight security at the college where I recently graduated with a degree I found I did not want. In the middle of the night, during a break in my rounds, I saw the first images of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact distributed around the world through the baby web. At that point, I knew I wanted to bring science education online with new data. Much of my social network at the time was organized through the campus intranet. I'd organize "Insomnaic Luncheons" at midnight at a local diner.

Discovering 23 years later that most social networks with a membership of greater than a few thousand are emotionally and practically unreadable for me, the takeover of those networks by hostile trolling and tribal conflict, is something I'm finding to be a personal conflict. I chose my career around the hopes of open information and data building bridges. Now, I'm creating walled gardens.