Panic set in. She scrolled faster. A photo of her crying on her 30th birthday. A rant about a neighbor’s barking dog, complete with their apartment number. A note from a dark period: "Sometimes I think the only reason I don't drive into the river is because the bridge is too far out of my way."

She picked up her phone. She didn't try to delete anything. Instead, she typed a new status. This time, she didn't save it to drafts. She didn't set it to "Only Me." She clicked the globe icon. Public.

One Tuesday morning, she opened the app to find a single, cheerful pop-up from a friendly, blue-faced AI avatar named "Meta." "Hi Elara! We’re making the social network social again. As part of our new 'Open Canvas' initiative, all legacy privacy settings are being reset to their most expansive default: 'Public.' Your past is a story worth sharing. Click 'OK' to embrace the open." There was no "Cancel" button. There was only "OK" and a tiny, greyed-out link that read "Learn More" which led to a 404 error.