I’d like to end trending topics section on Twitter, Facebook or wherever else it pops up. I think it encourages all of our worst impulse to be distracted, form or seek out knee-jerk opinions, shoot from the hip with hot takes that invite controversy to gain attention, and more negative effects.

I think it’s also eroding trust in journalism. Breaking news and trending topics encourage surface-level relationships because there isn’t any real depth or length to the coverage of the news before it’s on to the next thing.

Here are some additional thoughts I wrote about our addiction to breaking news.