Social media is a great tool for keeping up with the daily news and friends across the country. However, Americans today lose a significant piece of our culture due in part to all of the distractions vying for our attention.
Reading for pleasure has been an American way of life since its rise in the 1700s. Even one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, became a wildly popular author as a result of his witty publication, “Poor Richard’s Almanac.”
However, many have seen a trend in recent years when it comes to reading. Not including online articles and blogs, people read for pleasure less today than they did in the past. Every day at school I hear — and sometimes participate in — extensive conversations about TV shows. Is this all that we as college students have come to? Perhaps we need to only binge-watch a couple times a year (it’s more special and fun that way) and invest our time back into the lost art of reading regularly.
Librarians have witnessed this phenomenon.
“I think that social media is causing people, especially kids, to read less,” Lindsey Beck, the librarian of youth services at Columbus-Lowndes county library said. “And parents are not stopping them from using the devices.”
On the other hand, she has seen a rise in the number of e-books released through the new program for Kindles, Nooks and other e-readers.
College students understandably have a lot of other reading responsibilities upon them if they want to keep a high GPA. Personal reading cannot always fit into the schedule. However, some will admit they end up scrolling news feeds or flipping on Netflix during free time.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Individuals age 75 and over averaged one hour of reading per weekend day and 20 minutes playing games or using a computer for leisure. Conversely, individuals ages 15 to 19 read for an average of four minutes per weekend day and spent 52 minutes playing games or using a computer for leisure.” This contrast is striking and merits careful attention.
However, social media does not just receive blame for all this. The constancy of the Internet actually helps authors get the word out about their books. One of my friends is about to self-publish her second novel. Social media has become a terrific avenue for her to spread the word.
GoodReads, an app dedicated to opinions on books, is one example. Each user can rate books on a five-star scale, as well as write reviews, suggest books to others, create lists of books to read next and see what their friends are currently reading.
I use this app to read peoples’ takes on famous books I’ve never read or to see what people think about a book I’ve just finished. It helps me sort out my own thoughts about a novel’s style, characters and overall quality.
GoodReads also gives tailored recommendations, making it easy for me to find books that pique my interest.
To conclude, reading for pleasure is an essential part of personal development and a great way to de-stress without electric screens. While I love social media, television and movies as much as anyone — they’re one of the main reasons I chose to major in communication, and it is my dream write for a TV show — I think everyone needs to apply self-discipline and make time to kick back with a good old fashioned book.
