As if social media networks haven’t shortened my attention span enough, I now seek recipes and cooking tips that are more pithy than verbose. And I’m not alone.

For the past four months, we’ve been posting frugal-living tips to Live Solid, part of SunTrust’s initiative to help people get on more solid financial ground. Our more than 4,200 followers have been responding well to the topics about savings, coupon-clipping and other consumer-interest pieces. But then we posted something about food, and the conversation exploded.

“What staple is your go-to for affordable weeknight meals?” Live Solid asked. Thirty-six responses later, we had everything from one-word answers to entire recipes written to fit in a not-too-lengthy comment box.

That question generated our most responses to date, and it made me think about how social media has changed the way we respond to open-ended questions. Even when people have room to write more, they opt for shorter responses, which are easy to read, re-tweet and reply to.

A co-worker pointed out that, thanks to social media, you don’t need to call Butterball University anymore. Instead, you can send random cooking questions out on Twitter and Facebook and let the responses find you.

Our conversational appetites have long been shrinking, but when did this begin translating to something as complex and scientific as a baking recipe?

@TwitRecipes is the handle for an Oregon mom/foodie who saw a way to turn the national trend of affordable, back-to-basics living into a successful Twitter resource. Bend, Ore. resident Julie Anderson created it a couple years ago on the premise that Twitter offers the perfect parameters for simple, affordable meals. After all, how complicated can you get in 140 characters? Now, she shares hundreds of recipes that are passed throughout the Twitterverse.

@MarthaStewart also occasionally posts recipes within her Twitter feed, which adds further evidence to a trend I’ve noticed in Martha’s recipes: they are getting dumbed down. No longer does her brand release Julia Child-esque recipes that include four pages of culinary jargon. Instead, they are simple and totally doable for the at-home cook. But even better, they translate well on the Web, where her adoring fans can easily re-tweet her tips to their friends. This was the right way for Martha to evolve her brand and it has bought her even more consumers.

I used to think this change in the foodie landscape was more of a “Rachael Ray effect” – less gourmet, more home cooking. But now I think it’s more about social media making brevity king.

Before opening a cookbook or e-mailing a friend or calling my mother, I turn to my Twitter feed, where I can find a recipe for strawberry-rhubarb compote in fewer than 140 characters.