The promise was so alluring: with each revolution in communication technology, the world would draw closer together. Perfect communication would lead to utopia. Rainbows and butterflies, here we come! But we know that isn’t the case. In Superbloom, Nicholas Carr explains why.

Communication technology doesn’t generate vitriol, but it facilitates and amplifies it. The ability to share, without friction, every thought immediately through social platforms reveals who we are. It turns out that we’re not the loving virtuous people we imagine.

Communication has become analogous to refined junk food. The taste is addictive, but the context—the fiber and vitamins in this analogy—has been striped away.

Superbloom is a well-researched book that shows our current predicament in light of historical precedents. The question is—will we change?

Carr, Nicholas. Superbloom: How the Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart. W. W. Norton, 2025. Epub.