How is the Internet changing literary style? asks Caleb Crain on Steamboats are ruining everything. It's a leisurely, literary, philosophical talk transcribed. So why would I ruin everything by paraphrasing? I'll just quote a bit.
Crain writes a lot for the New York Review of books. Enjoy.
What styles do thrive on the internet? I've kept a blog for several years, and although its readership is tiny, I of course notice when the hits rise and fall. I seem to get more readers when I post frequently, when I write about people or topics in the headlines, when I have been drawn into a conflict, and when I write something that speaks to a self-image that a group of people share. Over the years I've gradually revealed more personal details; I still reveal very little, comparatively, but enough to entitle me to say that I feel a tug there, too.
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