In the age of print, lengthy articles gave readers the feeling that they got their money’s worth. Writing was planting a seed that bore fruit, but only after investing a certain amount of time, emphasizing quality over quantity.
140 characters revolutionized the idea that content has to be lengthy. If print is fruit from a seed, short real-time content is popcorn from kernels. This style does not have to be at the cost of quality, but takes the philosophy that if you put that much out there, some of it is bound to be good.