As an American, I can totally relate to that.
The optimism I felt in '94 when I quit my job and started an Internet company has largely faded. Yes, on balance the Internet is a good thing, but I, for one, really underestimated the ability for almost anything to be co-opted by dominant social mores. In US the Internet had largely devolved into a platform for buying shit and watching TV, not living up to its promise at all. In Russia the co-opting is different, but I imaging the failed potentials feel kind of the same…
