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Comment by ben_w

1 year ago

> they don't really read as the default anymore, in the sense of reading longform blog posts/articles/newspapers

Did they ever? I grew up with newspapers, but adults back then were saying much the same then just with books as their example of "things kids don't read these days"[0], to the extent that my mum decided she ought to bribe me to read more[1]. But I also remember reading some claim that most people back then were reading just the headlines of newspapers, and if they were particularly engaged by that, perhaps the first/last paragraphs too.

[0] right before Harry Potter came out.

[1] I can't remember exactly how much any more, but I got at least a few week's worth of pocket money from the New Testament.

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ben_w

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keiferski  1 year ago

Yes, they did, even if they were reading pulp novels and not classic literature.

  • ben_w  1 year ago

    I am the "they" in the case of last generations' "kids these days".

    What "kids these days" do and don't do has always been a subject of parental concern, but the reality is that people aren't a homogenous group, and being an adult makes you more aware of people who grow up differently than you did.

    Just as my mum was concerned about my reading habits (she probably saw a headline about it), so too are you concerned about the current generation's.

    My generation was all over the place, and so is today's. The top readers of my generation read widely, most adults when I was a kid didn't read more than the headline; The top readers of the current generation read widely, most adults today don't read more than the headline… and even here, we get comments where people clearly comment without having read the link.