Historical records, journal entries, harrowing adventures, relatable novels and hard-hitting news stories; for centuries, we have shared information and expanded our understanding of others’ narratives by pouring our hearts into written pieces while also consuming the work of others.
Stories are where our passions develop. Where our empathy, curiosity and engagement with others’ lives grow.
And yet, we are losing our want for literature as a form of entertainment, and it’s becoming increasingly “uncool” to read for pleasure.
“Researchers at the University of Florida and University College London have found that between 2003 and 2023, daily reading for reasons other than work and study fell by about 3% each year,” The Guardian said.
Shorter and shorter content is being pushed out to media consumers – causing our attention spans to decline and our focus to be challenged.
The digital age has brought the fastest consumption of information in the world, but at what cost?
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are designed to make our brains adapt to only receiving small and short forms of media at once, but this isn’t how we used to live.
“According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 31% of teens said they lost focus in class because they were checking their cell phones,” Tessa Nussenbaum, a reporter for The Standard, said.
Consumers of all ages, but especially those who have grown up in the digital age, feel unproductive if they only do one thing at a time, even if that’s sitting in class learning.
The false feeling of efficiency the internet causes in people leads them to think they’re reaching their productivity goals when, in actuality, they are just putting the least amount of effort into as many projects as possible.
We convince ourselves we are multitasking when we have three screens open at once: skimming the cliff notes to a story we are supposed to read, and are telling our phones what to write in our mom’s birthday text.
Effort and time in projects require fewer distractions, which we are often programmed to think we need to function.
Our dwindling attention spans call for everything to be short, snappy and right in your face, which is just not what you get when you read for entertainment.
There is dedication there, not only in physical time, but also in our emotions and mental functions.
When reading, we gain an understanding of the historical backgrounds of important figures, hear unique perspectives, travel to new places through the pages of books, learn from real-life stories in memoirs and stay informed about current events in our world.
There’s importance to the dedication it takes to read. to put down your phone and open up your heart to the stories of others.
There’s something out there for everyone, but we have lost sight of the way we can be truly moved by a piece of work because we don’t allow ourselves to get involved in things that take time.
So before you pick up your phone at its next ding or rush to scroll on TikTok when you have an ounce of free time, pick up a book, write in your journal and open up to the world and people around you.
