In the November/December 2020 Writer’s Digest interview with the writing power couple Zadie Smith and Nick Laird—both who are well known to shun social media and smartphones—Mr. Laird said:
Twitter is certainly an interesting experiment, but unfortunately, it’s an experiment that’s ruined the world. It’s a race to the bottom of the human psyche.
This may be true. Heck, it probably is true, but it’s is an odd statement coming from a master poet, fiction writer, and university professor.
Consider this. Twitter has only been around since March 2006—about 15 years.
Compared to other writing and communication tools—such as papyri, printing presses, pencils, and the novel— it’s still just in the crib.
Perhaps writers—and especially poets, who should understand the value of the content and the form of the written word—should also consider the possibility Twitter is still waiting for it’s Sappho, or it’s Homer.
Perhaps we shouldn’t write off Twitter—or what it may evolve into—quite yet, as it still may be a viable tool for entirely new artistic creations.
Perhaps there are better things to come.