The paradox of digital technology and reading
Take a break from social media and immerse yourself in a book
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Digital technology has revolutionized how we access books, introducing formats like e-books and audiobooks. The vision behind such inventions is to expand the ways people can enjoy reading. However, despite these innovations making books more accessible than ever, we face a strange paradox: why aren't we reading more?
Audio books have been around since 1932, when the American Foundation for the Blind began its Talking Book Program, creating books on LPs that became more popular than braille among the blind. In 1966, Congress passed Public Law 89-522 which granted the Library of Congress authority to produce audio books for anyone with a visual or physical disability who could not read normal-sized print in books. These early audio books were produced on cassette tapes which could be cumbersome. For example, the e-book version of Roots by Alex Haley, produced in 1977, required people to change five cassette tapes (the printed version is 704 pages).
Audiobooks gained a wider audience in 1997 with the launch of Audible. Today, many companies offer audiobooks, and free options are available through services like Libby, accessible with a library card. If your local library doesn't participate in the Libby system, it may have a “sister” library which offers cards to people who are not residents in its county. I am a huge proponent of Libby.
The development of e-books mirrors the evolution of audiobooks. The idea for the e-book originated with the avant-garde writer Bob Brown in 1930. Inspired by the advent of talkies in film, he envisioned a "reading machine" which he called the "Readie," He thought that such a device would help people keep up with the rapid pace in which books were being published.
Nearly four decades later, in 1971, Project Gutenberg became the first library to offer free digitized books. In 1998, the first portable e-book readers, Rocketbook and Softbook, were introduced, resembling today's tablets. The e-book market significantly expanded in 2007 with Amazon's launch of the Kindle reader.
The Libby system, mentioned earlier, also offers free e-books to borrow, which in my view is one of the best deals around. E-readers are generally user-friendly. A contrast to the ease of e-reader use is shown in this Norwegian comedy sketch video which lampoons how a medieval monk needs tech support to figure out how to use an early book.
So with the innovations of audiobooks and e-books, are Americans reading more? To answer this, I turned to Gallup, which has been tracking American reading habits since 2002. In their 2022 Gallup poll, they asked respondents about their reading habits across all formats—print, e-books, and audiobooks. They found that the average number of books read by Americans has actually declined, primarily because dedicated readers are reading fewer books.
It's important to note the wording of the Gallup poll question, which asked if people read “part or all the way through a book.” The percent of people who reported not reading any books at all in 2022 (17%) remained almost unchanged from 2002 (16%). The most significant decline was among heavy readers—those who read 10 or more books per year—down to 27% in 2022 from 35% twenty years earlier. This decline occurred despite the introduction of smartphones in 2007, which increased opportunities for reading and listening to books anywhere and anytime.
Pew Research reported a similar result when they asked whether people read at least part of a book the year before, but not if they finished it. Pew found that 25% of people did not even start reading one book last year. A recent YouGov poll which asked how many books people actually completed, revealed that only 54% of Americans finished at least one book in 2023. This means that 46% of Americans did not finish reading even a single book last year. That’s a substantial percentage.
What format of books did people prefer? The YouGov survey found that among those who finished at least one book last year, physical books were the most popular. I was rather surprised that fewer people listened to audio books compared to reading e-books. However, those who preferred audiobooks tended to consume more books per year than those who read either e-books or physical books. Perhaps there’s a reason why.
Audio books offer the unique affordance of being able to speed up the playing, enabling people to get through books faster. According to the Debratix speech calculator site, people typically speak at a rate of 140 words a minute, while audiobook narrators speak slightly faster at 155 words a minute. Speeding up the playback can feel like listening to someone rushing through a conversation, which can make it challenging to maintain attention for a long period.
I looked at the Audible blog to see how many people speed up audio book playing. About 5% of listeners play audiobooks at 1.5X speed (quite fast), with some even at 3X speed. But many people listen to audio books above the 1.0 normal speed. So with an audio format we can pack more content into limited time and finish a book faster, but this might come at the expense of savoring and reflecting on the material.
However, measuring reading by the number of books read may not be the best approach. The true value of reading lies in taking the time to genuinely enjoy a book. Speeding up audiobooks to finish them more quickly reminds me of Erich Fromm's book "To Have and To Be." According to Fromm, people can choose to "have"—viewing the world in terms of possessions and accomplishments, like checking off a book as finished. Alternatively, they can choose "to be"—focusing on developing their character traits. Deeply reading and reflecting on a book aligns with Fromm’s idea of “To Be.” Fromm's distinction applies to any reading format.
So, what do these reading trends tell us? It seems that digital innovations like audiobooks and e-books benefit those who are already readers but don’t necessarily encourage non-readers to pick up a book. For readers, digital technology has expanded their options: people favor that mode of reading based on the situation. Audiobooks are great for when one is driving, walking, or exercising. E-books are convenient for commuting or traveling. Physical books are perfect for those who enjoy the tactile experience of reading while curled up on a sofa or relaxing on a beach.
There are many reasons that could explain the YouGov survey result that only 54% of Americans finished a book last year. One reason is fairly obvious: it’s not that people don’t use digital technologies; they are using them extensively—but not for reading books. There are so many things that compete for our attention when using tech. A survey by AllConnect reports that people spend an average of 2 hours and 27 minutes daily on social media and 2 hours and 37 minutes daily on streaming video. That’s five hours a day spent on digital media, which is time that could otherwise be spent reading a book. Consider how dedicating even two of those hours a day to reading instead of social media could make a significant difference, and this would also allow time for reflection on the content.
Reading transforms us in ways that social media and other shortform content cannot. Research suggests that delving into fiction fosters more empathic and prosocial behavior. Recently I finished The Ministry for the Future and its profound impact on my view of climate change was something that neither social media nor short news articles could achieve. Rather than continuing the habit of consuming fleeting content online, consider stepping away from the digital noise and immersing yourself in a book—in whatever format best suits your lifestyle.
You can learn more about how our attention is affected in the digital world in my book Attention Span.