Has Social Media reduced the appeal of reading books?

[LizzyGirl1]

Hi All
When I was young, I always had my nose in a book. Today though, young people spend all of their free time on social media.
I can't remember the last time I saw someone under 30 reading a book that was not required for school.
Have you guys noticed the same?
What can we do to share the joy of reading books with millenials and beyond?

[DATo]

I think you are right. Before social media young people had more discretionary time on their hands. That does not mean that all of them read books, but I think a certain percentage of them who did now get more entertainment by interacting with others on the net. I think the best stimulus for initiating young people to reading is by example as well as writing good books which target this age group such as The Hunger Games and the many others which have been so popular in these last recent years.

[pum-pum]

I think it has increased the percentage of young people who read books through the use of visual appeal. These days i see alot of novels with very interesting covers, and most of them have a short preview of what the novel is about. In terms of accessibility, social media has made it easier for people to get the novels they want to read. For instance when i was little, it was hard to find someone to exchange a novel with, especially if i am in a crowd of non-readers. Now, if i want a novel, i can either buy it online or exchange it online through the different book clubs i have subscribed to. Most of these book clubs by the way reach many people and in this instance, many young people by having their pages on different social media sites which has made it easier for young people to connect with other readers and access different books by either buying them online or exchanging them online. A very good example is this forum right here; onlinebookclub it has very many reviewers and readers and the number keeps growing. A clear indication that people are not reading less, they are reading more.

[Ant]

A lot of young people are obsessed with "celebrity" and the instant fame, albeit brief, that comes with the celebrity badge.
Thankfully there are many who still appreciate a good book and I don't think it is social media alone that has seen the number of regular book readers under 30 decline but added with other factors, like having the world wide web at your fingertips isn't helping the book cause. Look what happened to maps, how many people still have a map? You have satnav and Gps. Look what's happening to the newspaper industry, most people go straight to the internet when they want news/sports. High street shopping...… sorry, I'm ranting now.

[Sefa1908]

Social media has greatly reduced the appeal to reading,being in college myself alot of my friends can't stay 5minutes without checking their phones chatting or keeping of with trends.due to this the concept of reading for lesuire has become a rare occurrence.

[Ashley-Osuna]

Social media has definitely affected my reading habits. Right now, I am reading as much as I used to read when I was younger but there have been some periods in my life where I dedicated more time to social media and the internet than to reading. I am excited to be back on track!

[angela roura]

100%. When I was little I used to read nonstop. Recently, getting my concentration back up has been difficult. Oh, to be a GenZ. After joining Online Book Club though, I've finally been getting back to my childhood self and reading once again!

[glubglub200]

Actually in my case social media makes me want to read more. It gets tiring looking through technology and keeping up with other peoples lives so now I just get out of that world by reading.

[Nichole Kurns]

I actually think social media has helped with increasing the appeal of reading books. Social media can bring attention book and authors to young people quickly and more often than before. There are so many different platforms on social media that give young people different ways of finding out about books.