Is it true that people have begun to read less, and how dangerous it is

Why are people less likely to read books?

In fact, no one knows for sure how close this assumption is to reality. Publishers' data is scattered and contradictory.M. Kovac, A. van der Weel. Reading in a post-textual era / First Monday. However, according to some surveys, there are indeed fewer people who read. For example, according to the international consulting company Deloitte, their number has decreased in Russia over the past four years.Media consumption in Russia 2021 / Deloitte by 5.5%.

The book is long goneUS Media Consumption trends: Tectonic shifts emerge / WNIP sole source of information or entertainment. Modern people can go to the movies, watch something on the Internet, listen to a podcast, hang out on social networks, read various media, play a board or video game. And to find out the answer to almost any question, you no longer need to go to the library - you just need to get a smartphone out of your pocket.

The pace of life is constantly growing. People answer calls and messages all the time, check social networks and sometimes solve several problems at once. There are so many events in life that the very sense of time changes. US

seemsthat it runs faster and faster. When you are already here to read a thick book, it is better to have short posts on Instagram or a video on Youtube, at least they will definitely have enough attention.

Does this mean we read less

Is not a fact.

First, more and more people preferM. Kovac, A. van der Weel. Reading in a post-textual era / First Monday paper books, audio or electronic versions, because it is more convenient. So, in Russia, in 2021, 38% of people read at least once in the last two weeksMedia consumption in Russia 2021 / Deloitte paper books and the same number - electronic. At the same time, compared to 2020, the first type of reading became more popular by 3%, while the second remained at the same level.

Secondly, reading is not limited to books. Media is an important source of information, and modern publications seem to be doing just fine. Now they are read in RussiaMedia consumption in Russia 2021 / Deloitte 53% of the population. This is 15% more than in 2020 and 3% more than in 2017. If you add the bookish public, it turns out that not so few people continue to read.

How information consumption is changing and what it means for reading

You can look at the situation even more broadly. Reading is primarily the consumption of information. We have no problems with this. We check social media while brushing our teeth and watch YouTubewhen we have breakfast. We listen to podcasts or music on the way to work, and in the office we check corporate mail and instant messengers. Reading the news in the evening newsletter or watch a series in an online cinema. And almost everywhere we are pursued by ubiquitous advertising.

Hundreds of gigabytes of video, images, sounds and text every day - we are literally drowning in information. According to various estimates, a modern person consumes on averageD. Clinton. Defining the Future of Human Information Consumption / LOUP information during 69% of the time of wakefulness, and for people from developed countries this figure tends to 100%. Measured in bytes and gigabytes, we have 90 times more information than people in the 1940s, and four times more than those who lived in the early 21st century.

In a world where information comes from literally every iron, we try to read only what is interesting to us. Now it is important not only the quality, but also the design of the information. They should immediately convey the essence or answer the question posed, and also have a convenient format, be distinguished by an interesting presentation.

As a result, reading has not disappeared, but has become more pinpoint and fragmented. This can be seen in the decline in interest in fiction, which people increasingly prefer non-fiction, journalism, blogs and social networks. And, for example, scientists are now much more likely to publishM. Kovac, A. van der Weel. Reading in a post-textual era / First Monday research in scientific journals, not in books. A short article can be read quickly and get the gist of it. And the magazines themselves are easier to print (or put on the Internet) and distribute.

Do new reading habits lead to degradation

Today, the culture of reading standsM. Kovac, A. van der Weel. Reading in a post-textual era / First Monday on the verge of global change: the amount of information is constantly growingD. Clinton. Defining the Future of Human Information Consumption / LOUPand people are less and less turning to books for knowledge. However, this does not mean at all that humanity is moving towards ignorance.

Communication, creativity, science have not gone away and continue to developD. Clinton. Defining the Future of Human Information Consumption / LOUP. But they are the ones who generate new knowledge. For example, the same basic research did not stop when science moved to the pages of magazines. And in general, modern people live better than ever.

The reading of books itself has not gone anywhere and is not planning to in the near future. So, according to the data of the American non-profit organization Knight Foundation, the number of people reading books in different generations remainsM. Lu. How Media Consumption Evolved Throughout COVID‑19 / Visual Capitalist roughly the same. Both among those who were born in the middle of the last century and those who have spent their entire lives in the digital age, there are about 20% of them.

So people will definitely not become dumber. Reading for pleasure will be a form of leisure for a long time to come.