Are fewer people reading today?

April 5, 2017

Print is dead, right? Maybe, maybe not, but either way, that doesn’t mean reading has died.

Is reading dying or dead? It would seem so. Every few months there’s an article online or in the newspapers or magazines about how people don’t read nearly as much as they used to, or that fewer and fewer people pick up a book. But I’d argue otherwise. I think more people are reading than ever before.

How are people reading?

[amazon_link asins=’B00ZV9PXP2′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’nerdarchy-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’cf6b009f-1a3e-11e7-83da-bd0cdd4a47dc’]Reading habits have changed, especially over the last dozen or so years. Readers might not be turning to newspapers, magazines, books and other traditional print publications as much as they used to, but there has been gigantic growth in digital reading. Another growing reading population is the readers who use independent reading devices, such as the Kindle from Amazon and other such e-reading devices.

Of course one could argue all this reading online isn’t the same, that it isn’t real reading. Readers aren’t getting to read as good a material as they did before. Readers are reading a lot of garbage. Readers aren’t learning or reading proper language when in chat rooms or texting. Maybe. Maybe all that is true, but people are still reading. And as long as they’re reading, they’re going to need writers.

If you’re a writer, like myself, you have on big thing to worry about: Competition. Yes, there are a lot more people writing nowadays, and trying to become professionals at it. The thing to remember is that the good writing will rise to the top, will flourish. Readers will want to read the good stuff. So, get to cracking, if you’re a writer, because you need to work on your skills. And if you’re a reader, sit back and enjoy all the material available in today’s world.

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