Reading observation of the slippery generation: Do young people still read books?

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As a book lover, my favorite thing to do in daily life is to make a cup of coffee and immerse myself in the world of books, or regularly participate in book clubs to discuss and interact with friends about chapters in books. Even when you see a book you like, you will share it on Facebook, hoping to convey the touching feeling of the book to more people.

But I gradually discovered that although many people like to express their feelings by reposting articles on Facebook and sending various stickers on LINE, sometimes they are unable to truly express their feelings, and there are often communication barriers during the conversation.

Everyone has also noticed that the younger generation of friends seems to read less frequently. Except for some necessary reference books, reference books, comics, and novels, it seems that they are less likely to take the initiative to read other books, or read newspapers and magazines.

I happen to have the opportunity to give lectures on university campuses recently. I also take this opportunity to have more opportunities to talk with this new generation who have grown up with Facebook and smartphones, and to better understand their channels and models for observing the world.

Leaving aside reading books, young people who are dubbed by the media as the “Sliding Generation” hardly read newspapers anymore! Some people even read magazines only occasionally when they go to coffee shops, fast food restaurants or barber shops to consume. It is undeniable that paper media and books are gradually moving away from their sight. The main sources of information for the young generation are nothing more than social networks, online media or convenient mobile apps.

Looking at the scenery on the MRT, almost eight out of ten young people are scrolling on their mobile phones. They are either chatting with friends on LINE or Facebook, playing games against each other, or staring at the small screen to watch TV shows. It is obvious that the reading culture and behavior of the slippery generation have undergone a shift and are very different from the past.

According to the “National Reading Survey” (https://www.gvm.com.tw/event/2014read/status.html) conducted by “Foresight” magazine in 2014, it was found that Chinese people read 1.7 books per month. This data is not only lower than before, “Foresight” also found that the reading atmosphere of Chinese people is showing a slight decline. Several important indicators, including the number of books purchased, reading hours and book purchasing funds, have also declined compared with four years ago.

It is not difficult to find from the book publishing trend report released by the National Library in February 2016 that the total number of new book publications in Taiwan continues to decline. In 2015, it fell below 40,000 for the first time, setting a new low in ten years.

Overall, this is naturally related to the poor overall economic performance in the country, which affects people’s willingness to buy books; but what is more noteworthy is that the public has become accustomed to reading online texts. The fragmented fast-food audio-visual reading habit has replaced the traditional paper reading method. Under the influence of the atmosphere of the times, the public has begun to covet all kinds of fast and free information.

In fact, it may not be fair to say that modern people don’t read books, because many people can still be seen in some bookstores and at the annual Taipei International Book Fair. But the point is that the reading habits of Chinese people have begun to change, and their preferences have also begun to change. For people in the media, publishing and other related industries, this is undoubtedly a big warning, because 72.6% of the people believe that watching online news counts as reading, and 65.9% even think that reading updates on Facebook graffiti walls counts as reading. However, this mentality will cause a crowding out effect. People are not interested in good books carefully compiled by some publishers, and they no longer spend time reading newspapers.

According to research conducted by Chinese and foreign scholars on the differences between paper reading and digital reading, it is found that people who use screens to read can remember less content and are less serious about reading, so paper reading still has certain advantages. But with the rise of the sliding generation, this group of people who grew up with Facebook are already familiar with the use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and are accustomed to staring at the screen to receive all kinds of information.

In this colorful society, there are too many factors that can easily distract people. On the surface, it seems that “increased time spent online” and “habitual use of mobile devices” are the main reasons for the decline in reading ability among Chinese people, but the truth of the matter is not that simple. For example, there is a lack of good enough content, or there are no reading tools customized for mobile devices, or even the current pricing strategy of [e-books] (https://www.bnext.com.tw/article/50786/digital-book-ebooks-market-share-is-only-3percent-in-taiwan) which is still a little expensive and rigid is one of the reasons why it cannot attract the slippery generation.

Therefore, to re-establish the generation’s interest in reading, a multi-pronged approach is necessary. In addition to continuing to invest resources in producing a variety of excellent content, it is also necessary to understand the preferences and needs of young people, and then “adjust to their preferences”, re-formulate content and [marketing strategies] (https://www.contenthacker.today/search?q=%E8%A1%8C%E9%8A%B7%E7%AD%96%E7%95%A5), and then use the power of information technology to attract the attention of the younger generation.

This is not an easy task, but it is urgent work.

★ This article was originally published in “Writer’s Life Journal”

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