Information overload. This is nothing new - the machines have been in control of our psychologies and social structures for a very long time - long before the Web. Information overload is just the latest manifestation of a very old phenomenon. In fact, if anything, it's a good thing - one of the classic sociological arguments is that the machine is fundamentally antisocial, that it's a driver of atomization, anomie, etc, etc. I think the Net is the first machine that has the potential, at least, not to be.