...we’re reading significantly more thanks to the internet, and we’re spending a lot more time doing it. That’s not to say we’re consuming better information; we’re just consuming more of it.

J. Eddie Smith points out that reading a book and reading a website differ. Not just because of the medium and the context; because of the content itself. He hints at something else important: the process of writing for the web generally differs too. It's not that quick, briefly-considered writing didn't exist before the web. It just wasn't very available to read.