Terrorism analysts have noted how savvy the Islamic State is on social media. The White House and think tanks alike point to Twitter support for ISIS as a key metric for the group’s strength. Similar worries once swirled around MySpace and Second Life as platforms for recruiting homegrown jihadists.

Cortland, New York, is a small city where nothing much happens. The newspaper is about ten pages long, and sometimes whole pages are devoted to not only their high school’s honor roll, but that of the next town over as well. But ten years ago, controversy struck, one with all the workings of a Lifetime teen drama: A number of kids were suspended from extracurricular activities for appearing in MySpace photos holding red cups. Parents and students rallied together and stood up against the administration, striking a blow for online privacy and varsity football.