But there are flagrant contradictions between the ideals of transparent, public living and the realities of lifestreaming in a community where virtually everyone lifestreams. Lifestreaming creates an additional layer of social information: by digitizing previously unrecorded things and forming, in the aggregate, a whole that reveals more than the sum of its parts, it becomes part of a digital mirror held up to the scene that often reveals more than the participants intended. The arguments, contradictions, and dramas that play out as a result cause people to hold back, restrict, and manage their lifestream. The lifestream becomes a portrayal of a formal, edited self.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 638