From the Draft Blog Post Archives: Well, this is interesting from 2013. I think instead of helping us sense ourselves, it helps us blind ourselves to others different from us. This one has NOT aged well!
It’s like proprioception, your body’s ability to know where your limbs are. That subliminal sense of orientation is crucial for coordination: It keeps you from accidentally bumping into objects, and it makes possible amazing feats of balance and dexterity.
Twitter and other constant-contact media create social proprioception. They give a group of people a sense of itself, making possible weird, fascinating feats of coordination.
via Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense.