| Social media is justifiably derided for its tendency to enable narcissism, abusiveness, and the spread of misinformation. But it can also be a force for good, a way to nurture relationships and bring us closer to the ones we love. As Duff McDonald writes this week on Backchannel, Instagram became just such a vital conduit connecting him and his daughter. He discovered the platform's utility in 2012 after he and his wife divorced and he found himself seeing his 3-year-old daughter only two days out of every 14. By posting photos of his daughter, whom he dubbed Lady, he found that she was more of a constant presence in his life. "What Instagram has allowed me to do," McDonald writes, "is to employ a kind of digital physics, to warp my experience of space and time in my favor." In 2018, when the 9-year-old Lady got an iPad and started using Instagram herself, the experience became even richer. The platform allowed McDonald and Lady "to send a message of love through the cosmos with full knowledge that its target will receive it." That's as far away from misinformation as anyone can hope to be. Mark Robinson | Features Editor, WIRED | 
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