Louis C.K. says Twitter made him feel miserable (about himself)
Technically Incorrect: Louis C.K. says he left Twitter because he regretted everything he posted on it and it made him feel bad.
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
Louis C.K. often offers wisdom about modern life.
When he explained why he wouldn't let his kids have cell phones, it was a simple exposition in truth and humanity.
This week, he appeared on Opie Radio to reveal his inner feelings of misery when it comes to Twitter, a misery that caused him to shut down his tweeting.
"It didn't make me feel good," he said. Surely, then, it was because of the snarly trolls, the sniveling abuse and the terrible spelling.
"I don't give a f*** about that," he said. No, for him it was all about his own regrettable contributions.
"Every time I say anything, I wish I hadn't said it," he said, without regret. He explained that he'd then send out more tweets to try to fix what he'd earlier written. "And then I'd feel worse," he said.
"Any time I tweeted anything, I was, like, 'I don't like the way that came out,'" he said. An even bigger problem was that 4.5 million people would see what he'd tweeted.
"Reading it depressed me and writing it depressed me," he concluded. He described Twitter as "everybody's worst side."
Louis believes the sheer speed of Twitter is antithetical to good dialogue. Yes, Twitter is alcohol during an especially late night. "People are going too fast, trying to react too quickly," he said.
But isn't that true of most, if not all, of the Web's communication tools?
It's hard not to instantly reply to texts and e-mails. They arrive with an urgency. They demand addressing. And, before we know it, we've written words that suggest we approve of bestiality or believe that our best friend Nadia is a cackling, manipulative freak.
Worse, we've pressed Send because that Send button is simply part of the automatic process our minds and bodies go through once we're taken in by the software's demands.
Twitter might bring out the very worst in us, because it's seen as a repository of "news." You have to catch the feed as it constantly scrolls the messages from trolls. You have to reply instantly, otherwise you won't be part of the news.
And if you're not part of the news, what are you? Depressed, of course.