In 1786, Benjamin Franklin observed that Americans were so busy reading newspapers and pamphlets that they scarcely had time for books.

Alexis de Tocqueville took note of this fact in his Democracy in America, published in 1835: "In America, parties do not write books to combat each other's opinions, but pamphlets, which are circulated for a day with incredible rapidity and then expire."

Both passage is from “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman first published in 1985

Few centuries later, it is "Tweets" and "TikTok videos" that has taken over the main form of discourse. Headlines over headlines, video snippets over snippets.

As long-form writing fades from digital culture and ‘memeified’ short-form content takes center stage, the seriousness, clarity, and above all, the value of public discourse dangerously declines.