Reading. As a product of the Web 2.0 generation, I can admit that I have been conditioned to skim reading material on the Web and extract bits and pieces of valuable information whilst virtually ignoring the rest. Nonetheless, I still hugely favor it to reading from print.
Undoubtedly, this is having a major effect on the way I read print material today. Sure, every so often I’ll pick up a newspaper in an effort to catch up on the news- and yet it takes me less than five minutes to get through the whole thing. Consequently, I realize that I ultimately have not caught up on any news at all.
Worse yet, I find that reading books results in the same amount, or lack thereof, of information extraction from the material. Needless to say, as a full time student, the majority of the books I read are required texts for my classes. Even as I am writing this very blog, the realization that I don’t necessarily absorb the intended information from given assigned readings is disconcerting to say the least.
It’s just that print material isn’t as easy on the eyes as text on the web. There aren’t the same catchy headlines. There aren’t the same abbreviated stories. There aren’t as many pictures or as many colors. Print material simply just is not as inviting as reading on the Web.
Personally, the Web has effected my reading in a way such that I read for superficial content instead of immersing myself in the artistry within the writing. I know that it is something that I, as well as other members of my generation, will have to work on improving if the art of writing is going to sustain the appreciation that it deserves.
If I want to be the most efficient reader that I possibly can be, comprehension must derive from both reading print and online material. In the everlasting argument towards the benefit of a symbiotic relationship between traditional and online media, the reading/viewing public must work towards incorporating both into their reading in order to result in gaining the most from what media and journalism has to offer.
