Act Four: An enforced break from Twitter

A denial of service attack leads to a quiet morning.   Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics   ( EFE/Andrew Gombert ) A quick programming note: There will be three installments of this newsletter next week, because we’re rolling out a project that I’ve been working on for more than a year, and we want to make sure that you get every installment of it in your inbox. I’ll be taking you inside how we put the project together. I can’t wait to share it with you! I don’t think this is a particularly common malady, particularly for people who write things for the Internet and then use social media to try to persuade people to read said things, but I’ve been feeling uncomfortably, even slightly twitchily, dependent on Twitter lately. My experience with it isn’t like Facebook, where my feed isn’t responding to every major event the instant that it happens, the posts are longer, and the responses and conversations are less constant, and less self-consciously clever. Which is not to say I don’t still enjoy Twitter; I have great fun there, I’ve met wonderful friends there and it’s an invaluable professional tool. But I have been trying to step back a little bit. I’ve set goals like not using Twitter while watching TV or movies that are meant to relax me at home, or not checking the service once I’m in bed for the night, and though I mostly fail to meet those goals, it comforts me to have at least the aspiration to do better. So in an odd way, when I woke up to an enforced Twitter outage this morning, due to a major denial-of-service attack that shut down many popular websites, I felt slightly relieved. I’m re-reading Tamora Pierce’s “Terrier,” the first book in her Beka Cooper trilogy, and I actually concentrated on it during breakfast. I made it through much more of the news than I normally do on my way in to work. And though I missed the flow of responses on Twitter, I didn’t particularly miss the lingering dread that often is there when I open up the service, the fear that something terrible has happened in the world, or that someone angry at me has unleashed all their followers in my direction. It was good to take a break. And maybe it’ll be easier for me to do it on my own next time. ADVERTISEMENT   Social media is changing how quickly we talk about movies, but not what we say Is film criticism more fractured? Or more consensus-driven than ever? By Sonny Bunch  •  Read more »   If Hillary Clinton is ‘such a nasty woman,’ she’s also a liberated one Sometimes, the best things happen when you realize you can't make everyone like you. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   Billy Bush and Roger Ailes got paid to leave. Women should get paid for tolerating them. That men like Ailes and Bush are getting compensated for losing their jobs as the result of repulsive behavior suggests women need better contracts. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘Westworld’ Season 1, Episode 3 Review: “The Stray” The hosts in Westworld are becoming more human -- and less convenient for their creators. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘Extremely unattractive': How Donald Trump tries to discredit women based on their looks Shockingly, there are people Donald Trump doesn't find attractive who are happy with their lives and great at their jobs. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Intersect The corner of the Internet and interesting, in your inbox weekly. Sign Up »         Share Act Four:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Act Four. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071