Reaction to "Shifts and Changes"

The professor's short essay examines the virtual world of social media. Has it led to the death of critical thinking? Has intellectual thought been replaced with tweets and snapchats? Or could 140 characters and a selfie really provide critical reflection? 

This past fall semester, I read an article titled, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr. Carr argues that the endless supply of information — whether scholarly or otherwise — that is available to us at the push of a button, is making us less likely to want to read longer pieces of writing. From my own personal experience, I believe this could be true. Even in my position as a content writer, I've learned that the shorter and more concise a Facebook post or even blog post is, the more reactions and reach it will receive. 

But does this mean we’re “stupid” now? Is concision less than wordiness? Does this mean that intellectual thought has all but disappeared or that critical thinking has become a “ghost”? I would suppose that would have to depend on what your ideas of intellectual thought and critical thinking are. Does an analysis have to be long-winded and overly developed in order to pass as scholarly? Does a philosophical debate have to be in a face-to-face meeting with romantic language or can it be in internet slang via a Reddit forum? The quote from Heraclitus about change may hold the answer. I believe that social media and the internet can provide critical thinking and intellectual reflection; how this is portrayed, however, will be different than in generations past.  (Here’s a wonderful example, I think.)