I admire the sentiments of the author. Agree with a lot of this. However, am I to believe that I must be more interested in "local" politics...and not choosing this is incorrect? And by Local, I assume he means Local and not State politics at a higher level than Local. I do agree that obsessing over national politics to the exclusion of all else is bad. I should follow Local and State level politics more. Actually engaging in Local politics is easier for sure to make a difference. I have done this when my interests were involved. State and National politics DOES mean being more of a spectator and not a participator. Sure, you can canvas and do things. But, who wants to knock on the door of a Trumper with a Biden message?
As for Twitter...hasn't it been obvious that 99% of Twitter posts are pure garbage? And this has been easily seen for years. I've worked in IT and not journalism for 25 years. So, for a Journalist perhaps Twitter's toxicity was not as seen as easily? Even so, I'm skeptical of that. Journalists are very responsible for making Twitter far more important than it truly is for years. You bear some responsibility in enabling Twitter. Most Journalists do.
Great observations to keep in mind in today's discourses: whether people have an open or closed mindset, and whether they have bothered to do their own "deep" thinking or are merely mimicking the meme of the moment.
Also, each individual has their own particular specialty, everyone has something to contribute, and finding and expressing it adds value to the discourse, whether in the be public or private sphere.
Thanks Matt. I have been one of your Twitter followers for a long time -- I consider you a voice of reason amidst the madness -- I'll miss your presence, but your article is making me rethink MY relationship with Twitter -- thank you!
Fwiw, I thoroughly enjoyed having your blog show up in my inbox today. I forgot I signed up for this long ago, but what a treat. Amen to your observations. Thank you.
You are way beyond me - you complain it's hard for you to write blog posts - it took me 10 days to read something that was more than 280 characters!
I admire the sentiments of the author. Agree with a lot of this. However, am I to believe that I must be more interested in "local" politics...and not choosing this is incorrect? And by Local, I assume he means Local and not State politics at a higher level than Local. I do agree that obsessing over national politics to the exclusion of all else is bad. I should follow Local and State level politics more. Actually engaging in Local politics is easier for sure to make a difference. I have done this when my interests were involved. State and National politics DOES mean being more of a spectator and not a participator. Sure, you can canvas and do things. But, who wants to knock on the door of a Trumper with a Biden message?
As for Twitter...hasn't it been obvious that 99% of Twitter posts are pure garbage? And this has been easily seen for years. I've worked in IT and not journalism for 25 years. So, for a Journalist perhaps Twitter's toxicity was not as seen as easily? Even so, I'm skeptical of that. Journalists are very responsible for making Twitter far more important than it truly is for years. You bear some responsibility in enabling Twitter. Most Journalists do.
Great observations to keep in mind in today's discourses: whether people have an open or closed mindset, and whether they have bothered to do their own "deep" thinking or are merely mimicking the meme of the moment.
Also, each individual has their own particular specialty, everyone has something to contribute, and finding and expressing it adds value to the discourse, whether in the be public or private sphere.
Thanks Matt. I have been one of your Twitter followers for a long time -- I consider you a voice of reason amidst the madness -- I'll miss your presence, but your article is making me rethink MY relationship with Twitter -- thank you!
Excellent, thanks. That gives me a few ideas to chew over. There's merit in these toxic environments, but it's hard to filter out the other.
Fwiw, I thoroughly enjoyed having your blog show up in my inbox today. I forgot I signed up for this long ago, but what a treat. Amen to your observations. Thank you.
First of the four!