Devastation in Meatspace:

But just as war is the perennial driver of technological development, so it also remains the laboratory in which technological image production is really tested — the ability of one state or another to push representation to its limit and make you feel safe, happy, good about the flesh that is being torn from limb on your behalf.

Molly Crabapple presented a similar idea during the Sex and the Selfie panel at Theorizing the Web.