According to some media reports, the number of young adults reading has increased dramatically in the past few years. This is fairly shocking, as we teenagers these days have so many entertainment sources competing for our attention. But what exactly is causing us to turn off our screens (at least temporarily) to switch our attention to what could be considered old fashioned entertainment?
Maybe it’s the fact that reading really isn’t old fashioned anymore. E-readers and online fiction have brought the world of literature to the modern world. Like with films or music, e-readers mean you can now have books at your fingertips 24/7, making it not only easier to buy books, but also to carry them or to read more quickly. However, the figures for young adults reading have not shown such a clear increase since the creation of e-readers. Some studies show that our age group actually read less online than older age groups. For me, as much as I love the convenience of my kindle for instant downloads and reading on the go, nothing beats a real book. In terms of quality and ease of sharing, not to mention the significantly lower price, real books win every time.
So if it’s not the introduction of e-readers that has got more young adults reading, what is it? Maybe it is the power of social media and internet presences. Most of you will have at least heard of John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, a book that undoubtedly would not have achieved the success it has done without his YouTube success or online fans sharing his work. Social media allows readers to connect with each other and with authors in a new way. An author releasing sneak previews can tempt readers to read on or buy the next book in the series.
Social media has also changed who can become an author. Obviously, anybody could choose to write a novel, but the chances of getting it published in the traditional way are quite slim unless you are an established author. It’s hard to ignore the ‘online presences’ getting book deals these days; bloggers, vloggers etc. are all getting in on the action and causing a lot of controversy in the process. Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, received huge backlash after rumours that her book was ghost-written. It’s clear that publishers only offer these online celebrities book deals to sell to a wider audience, but if this is part of the reason more of us are reading these days, it shouldn’t be seen as such a bad thing.
As a Literature student, I am a bit biased towards the benefits of reading, but I’m not the only one who thinks reading more can only be a good thing. Mark Zuckerberg, has pledged to read at least 25 books this year. If even the creator of Facebook thinks it’s a good idea to spend more free time reading, what’s stopping you?
