The "bread crumb" trail about why people are reading less or appear less interested in longer articles - leads to social media and its environs more than a busted educational system. Social media took the "river of knowledge" and broke it down into a 1000 streams - all easy to leap over. All equally shallow.

Social media is not about long -- long anything. It's all about quick and easy. Short and uncomplicated. Fast food for the masses who don't have time to cook, to research, to ponder - so they go to Medium or other platforms and find fast answers. Quick laughs. "Easy" solutions to a failing marriage, job, or existential crisis.

The thing is that if someone had access to a super computer for 48 hours and did a little programming magic, I believe the same 1000 articles or 100 books will be found to be the basis for 90% of the content that is being consumed.

Bob writes a story about bikes; Janice reads it and comments. Hector doesn't like the comment and says so. 24 hours later there are 13,000 additional comments, 83 new articles about bikes - why they're great or suck and round and round.

Innocent enough I suppose - until the creative matter that is being produced becomes less and less viable. Less able to spark other ideas, other directions, other possibilities.

Not sure at all, that I like where this is going. People can read for comprehension - I guarantee it - they're just choosing not to, if they don't have to.