One pattern that I have noticed amoungst people who work in the "letters" (writing, editing, publishing, journalism, etc.): Since their income is relatively very low for their highly skilled work (it usually requires a university degree), they cannot compete on social status (read: money/wealth). (Leave aside the many people in letters who come from a wealthy family; you will meet many of these people in Global Alpha cities, like London, NYC, Tokyo, etc.) Instead, they create a navel gazing world of intellectual status where they try to "read more than everyone else" and "have a strong opinion about everything". Thus, their peers "feel behind". I think this also well explains why the people in the letters, especially journalists, think Twitter is "so important". It is not. It is tiny echo-chamber in a massive online world.
I want to be very clear about what I wrote above: I am not criticizing the quality of their work. There are plenty of people in the letters who annoy me to no end with their navel gazing, but produce fantastic work. Please keep these two separate!
The best part of this article: She realises it is all bullshit. In short: Read what you like. And, don't worry too much about other people. Another good title for this article: "A Letter to My Younger Self".
I want to be very clear about what I wrote above: I am not criticizing the quality of their work. There are plenty of people in the letters who annoy me to no end with their navel gazing, but produce fantastic work. Please keep these two separate!
The best part of this article: She realises it is all bullshit. In short: Read what you like. And, don't worry too much about other people. Another good title for this article: "A Letter to My Younger Self".