Dog parks are an antidote to the isolation and divisions that social media can fuel

A group of regulars meet at the Harford dog park in Radnor, Pa. Kevin B. Johnson, CC BY-NC-SA

The case against social media has gotten so well rehearsed that most people can easily merge it into ordinary conversation: It makes people lonely. It sorts them into camps. It hands them a room full of people who already agree with them and calls that a community.

I’ve given this speech myself, with feeling, having read my phone notifications in the host’s powder room 11 minutes earlier.