Ahh, there’s nothing quite like the blissful sounds of nature: Birds singing, babbling brooks, and the racket of 1,000 cameras going off at the same time… Wait a minute, that last part doesn’t sound right. 

There are 8.2 billion people on earth, but you’d think there would still be a few corners of untouched wilderness left to appreciate. However, because of nature influencers and social media, almost every untamed coastline, mighty forest, and stoic mountain range is dotted with chattering crowds. Looking more like a weekend at Disneyland, many national parks have become insufferable, diminishing their natural beauty with unruly crowds and tourist buses full of oglers that act like they’re waiting in line for a corndog at a carnival instead of enjoying the mystique of mother nature. 

But why is there such a huge influx of unversed tourists? It’s not because the flora and fauna are booming that suddenly everyone has an interest in enjoying nature. It’s the travel influencers who have doomed the parks to overcrowding, exposing glorious natural wonders to the general public. They’re tempting city-dwellers into the wild so they can cosplay as a nature photographer, snapping their own photos of a bison, a waterfall, or an imposing rock formation. Because in a world run by social media where clout is everything and FOMO is contagious, the urge to post has ruined the sanctity of the great outdoors.