Looks that quill: The dark side of hedgehog Instagram

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View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions  08.15.21 "This is how the internet works," Noelle Mateer writes in her latest feature for WIRED. "You get into something for the fun of it, and you end up being radicalized." In Mateer's case, the fun thing was African pygmy hedgehogs. She followed hundreds of them on Instagram—hog after hog after hog. Wilbert munched on worms. Koala dressed up like Harry Potter. Lionel did sponcon for carpet cleaner. Maple went on a tiny camping trip. And the algorithm always had new hogs to suggest. Eventually, as Mateer scrolled into the infinite cuteness, she began to wonder: "When a species goes viral, what happens to the animals?" That question sent her into the fluffy white underbelly of the hedgehog-industrial complex, where she found what a volunteer rescuer calls "the non-cute part." Anthony Lydgate | Senior Editor, WIRED   Looks That Quill: The Dark Side of Hedgehog Instagram BY NOELLE MATEER | 11-MINUTE READ Beneath the tiny top hats and GIF-able snuggle sessions, I found a sad tale of internet virality.   The Pain Was Unbearable. So Why Did Doctors Turn Her Away? BY MAIA SZALAVITZ | 22-MINUTE READ A sweeping AI has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis. It may only be making the crisis worse.   The Delta Variant Has Warped Our Risk Perception BY GREGORY BARBER | 5-MINUTE READ Gone are the easy, thoughtless choices of hot vax summer. Making decisions that balance safety and sanity just got a lot more complicated.   TikTok Smells Like Gen X Spirit BY VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN | 4-MINUTE READ On the app you'll see a raucous reboot of "slacker" attitude. Or not. Whatever.   I Think an AI Is Flirting With Me. Is It OK If I Flirt Back? BY MEGHAN O'GIEBLYN | 4-MINUTE READ WIRED's spiritual advice columnist on emotional connection, continental affairs, and the ulterior motives of chatbots.   Apple's Privacy Mythology Doesn't Match Reality BY ALBERT FOX CAHN AND EVAN SELINGER | 5-MINUTE READ The company's claims cloak threats to millions of users' iCloud, iMessage, and facial verification data. GET WIRED Stare the future right in the eye. Get 1 year of unlimited access to WIRED for less than $1 per month. That includes Steven Levy's exclusive newsletter and a free tote! Subscribe now.         This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.