Are internet firms the problem, or are you the problem?

In early 2019 an unusual abundance of orange poppies appeared on the slopes of Walker Canyon, in the Temescal Mountains south-east of Los Angeles. Social-media influencers flocked to the scene to take pictures of themselves among the blossoms, prompting their followers to do the same. The “superbloom” of flowers produced a superbloom of people, trampling the poppies, causing gridlock and creating a public-safety hazard.

For Nicholas Carr, a thoughtful critic of technology and its consequences, all this is a metaphor for today’s media-saturated world. Like poppies, social platforms look pretty, but a form of narcotic is contained within.