Roger Ebert and the difference between thinking and saying

The beloved film critic's unfortunate tweet right after the death of "Jackass" cast member Ryan Dunn has the Washington Post's Alexandra Petri lamenting on the inability these days to just put a lid on it.

Insta-Commentary is commentary stripped of the things that made commentary worthwhile: facts, and reflection. It's a series of words arranged into sentences in such a way as to attract as many clicks as possible as soon as possible. It's silly. It's a little better than pointless but not much. The impulse to Insta-Commentary makes you say things like "Friends don't let jackasses drink and drive" when a man has just died and you are still not fully apprised of all the facts.