But the effect on the attention span isn’t the only danger of Twitter. Writers have always been a notoriously distractible and distracted bunch. These days, if it’s not Twitter, it’ll be some other form of technology or social media, especially if you’re determined to procrastinate. What’s unfortunate about Twitter in particular is the dumbed-down intellectual atmosphere it creates, the way it facilitates and rewards crude, oversimplified, and unkind commentary about important, complicated topics.
Even when I managed to limit the distraction factor, I found myself beginning to dislike the nasty, combative culture that Twitter fosters. I hated the way people in “real life” spoke about minor Twitter spats as if they deserve serious attention or had any real bearing on the world in front of us. “Fighting” with prominent Twitter users is now viewed as a pastime of sorts, and even a badge of honor. I found myself rolling my eyes when I found entire news stories dedicated only to chronicling something that “happened” on Twitter.
Most of all, I began to resent seeing intelligent people that I respect, people I considered my friends, use Twitter to share half-baked thoughts and uncharitable sniping — often toward people they also once regarded as friends — simply because that’s what Twitter’s attention economy incentivizes. I began to resent seeing those same tendencies in myself.
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