When was the last time you picked up a hard copy of a book? Some may even ask: What’s a hard copy? In any case, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear either response. It’s been ages since I read an actual book. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the transition to online reading to be an easy one either.
Nowadays, we live in a technological society full of constant distractions. Most of us have lost the ability to read for long periods of time. I often find it difficult to get fully immersed when reading off a screen. It starts to become a tug-of-war when I have to force myself to get through long passages.
Back in the Days
I never had this issue when I was reading books as a child. My love for reading came from the Goosebumps series written by American author R.L. Stine. They were very popular back in the olden days. I would check out several books at a time if I had the opportunity. Surprisingly, I still have most of them sitting in my basement; a very fitting place. (Please, don’t report me.)
I remember spending hours, every night, just reading these books. The suspense kept me fully immersed in every word and page. I was committed to finishing each one. Now, I can’t seem to get back into that rhythm. Reading does not appeal to me as it once did.
The Dawn of Social Media
In 2006, I was introduced to my first social media platform called Myspace. Some of you may not be familiar, but this is where your grandparents met. Your grandfather left a comment on a photo and the rest was history. In short, it was the first social network site to reach a global audience. (It was the beginning of the end for us all.) In due time, more prominent social media sites would change the world as we know it today.
My love for reading gradually disappeared as I became more active on these platforms. I started to consume more content, but gained less perspective. My attention span started to dwindle. The shorter the post, the more appealing it was to me. I never attempted to read anything longer than two lines. (My conscience would not allow me to.) I needed that extra time to scroll through the endless amount of garbage that was all over my news feed.
Over the years, I adopted a certain technique whenever I read anything online. I quickly scan through articles for valuable information, extract what I need and move on to the next source. This method became a convenient way of reading while I am multitasking. I simply do not have the patience to read through multiple articles in one sitting. It gets mentally exhausting after a while.
The Decline of Civilization
For the first time in modern history, less than half of Americans read literature for pleasure. Some 57 percent of Americans now do not read a single book in a typical year. The average American spent seventeen minutes a day reading books and 5.4 hours on their phone. (Hari, 2021, p.80)
It’s not surprising that high school students are spending most of their time on mobile devices instead of reading books. According to The Washington Post (2018), 1 in 3 U.S. high school seniors did not read a book for pleasure in 2016. Instead, they reported spending about six hours of their free time every day devoted to digital media.
I blame social media for all the problems in the world. It has its pros, but I believe the bad outweighs the good. We, as a society, are in a free fall to idiocy. I can’t even explain half of what is going on right now. There is an old saying, “every generation believes that the next will be the one to end it all.” I wouldn’t be surprised if it did…
Johann Hari. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again. New York, Crown, 2021.
Natanson, Hannah. “Yes, Teens Are Texting and Using Social Media instead of Reading Books, Researchers Say.” The Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/08/20/for-american-teens-texting-and-social-media-are-replacing-books/
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