Rethinking Reading

Most of us are aware that people in general don't read as many books as they used to. With digital technology taking over the world, most of us prefer the screen as our chosen platform  over the page these days. This has many of the older generation, and academics in particular, wondering if we are losing the ability to read altogether, replacing the deep reading associated with books with simply browsing through media links. But I wonder, have you ever stopped to think just how much we have to read these days? 

When you first wake up, what is the first think you do? Most of us grab our phone and start replying to texts, checking Facebook and emails and reading the trending headlines. As we go about our day, we are constantly reading the apps on our phone, reading advertisements, forms, packaging, instructions, signs, billboards, the lists goes on and on. We use our laptops and computers. We are reading on TV screens and tablets. We read in the store, at the office, and in the gym. I think reading has become so second nature to us that we really don't realize how much reading we do on a daily basis. We may not be going to the library, but very few of us can go a day without reading in the virtual world.