While on one hand, I rolled my eyes a little at Park's decision to create a hyperbolic hashtag that she knew would garner attention, even if she wasn't fully behind it. It was a bold PR move — but it was also motivated by clearly articulated reasoning about racism and how Colbert was punching down in this particular instance. My annoyance faded away as a I watched the way this young woman was picked apart by not only angry men on the internet, but also by a Huffington Post Live journalist who patronized her and called her perspective into question on-air.The second half of the episode deals with Leigh Van Bryan, who is arguably less sympathetic a victim than Suey Park. Bryan was planning a trip to Los Angeles from his native England when he fired off two tweets that apparently piqued the attention of United States Homeland Security."Three weeks today, we’re totally on Hollywood Boulevard, pissing people off, and digging up Marilyn Monroe," he wrote to his few thousand followers. "Are you free this week for a gossip/prep, before I go destroy America?" he added in a later tweet.Admittedly, not a great thing to have written before you hop on a plane to another country. But in Bryan's defense, he was just bullshitting about the Marilyn Monroe thing, and "destroy" has a different connotation overseas than it does on this side of the pond. (He defined it to mean "party hard," essentially.)Bryan, who was traveling with a female friend, was apprehended by security as soon as he landed at LAX. Their suitcases were raided. They were interrogated for hours before being transferred to jail cells overnight; their visas were immediately revoked, making the pair "illegal immigrants" in America; they were ultimately deported and sent back to England — nearly two days after their original flight landed. (And they aren't allowed back, by the way.)Watching Bryan's story especially, I began thinking about all the tweets I've fired off without a thought — particularly the most nonsense ones that could easily be misinterpreted or blown out of proportion. It's scary, the idea that passing comments on Twitter could become an on-the-record indication of who you are as a human being — of what threat you pose to the rest of the world. Frighteningly enough, being active online really does have the power to ruin your real life.And yet. While I am deeply concerned about censorship and freedom of speech online (not to mention the implications of Bryan's arrest and subsequent deportation all because of a tweet) I also believe that with great opportunity — in this case, the opportunity to have your voice be heard — comes great responsibility. Even on Twitter. We're all citizens of the internet these days, a virtual reality locale that is becoming ever more real. And a certain part of participating is acknowledging the rules of the game — and the social contract you enter into when you play it.

The Internet Ruined My Life airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on Syfy.