Let me start by saying that I have absolutely no interest in using Twitter, reading other people's "tweets" or any of that. I think most of it is mindless self-indulgence. That said, I hate media sensationalism far more than mindless self-indulgence, hence my repeated eye-rolling reading the following from CNN.com...
Rapid-fire TV news bulletins or getting updates via social-networking tools such as Twitter could numb our sense of morality and make us indifferent to human suffering, scientists say.
I love that this article is on a news site that prides itself in being able to deliver rapid-fire news bulletins (which can even be e-mailed directly to you).
Scientists say updates on networking tools such as Twitter are often too quick for the brain to fully digest.
New findings show that the streams of information provided by social networking sites are too fast for the brain's "moral compass" to process and could harm young people's emotional development.
Before the brain can fully digest the anguish and suffering of a story, it is being bombarded by the next news bulletin or the latest Twitter update, according to a University of Southern California study.
Now, let's put this whole thing into perspective from an evolutionary standpoint. These scientists are saying a brain that evolved to hunt wild animals, avoid being killed by other wild animals and repeatedly be successful at both, requiring skill and intelligence, are too slow to handle reading lines of text.
But then it's the old line we always hear, isn't it? How many studies have there been in the last 100 years showing that this or that new technology will destroy the morality of our precious children?
It's applied to everything from Jazz to Pac-Man. Now it's Twitter.
I notice, however, that there is one group the media never suggests might be culpable... parents.
This is probably my favorite part of the article, however-
"If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people's psychological states and that would have implications for your morality," said researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang.
Experience emotions? You're talking about twitter. Most of the emotions expressed there are things like OMG THIS JONAS BROTHERS SONG KICKS A$$$$$$!!!!!!