I’ve been thinking about five intersecting problems: first, how the internet is built to distend our sense of identity; second, how it encourages us to overvalue our opinions; third, how it maximizes our sense of opposition; fourth, how it cheapens our understanding of solidarity; and, finally, how it destroys our sense of scale.

On the one hand, those ideals draw on the power of authentic human desires—for friendship, joy, love, and play. On the other hand, they tend to implant and exaggerate less laudable ideals about beauty, power, and privilege. So at the same time that these “perfect” images, these icons of happiness, are subliminally telling me what’s wrong with mysel

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