By: Mohamed Sahr
Social media is an internet-based technology which gives users faster, reliable and accessible communication of content; at the same time has revolutionized the way users share information and interact with others. Users use computer, tablet, and smartphone via web-based application to surf the social media platforms.
However, it has spoiled youths book reading habits irrespective of its positive roles to the world. Addiction is the major cause of all the attendants of social media vis-à-vis its adverse impact on the reading habit of must youths.
Social media usage has generally been deemed as an unproductive use of time. Despite the fact that it has facilitated and even broadened interaction among people, it is one of the substantive causes for the growing laxity towards book reading habits among youths.
As a result of the considerable time they dedicate surfing through and shuttling between one platform and the other.
In fact, a study conducted by American Psychological Association declared Eighty percent of youths spend more time live streaming social media platform like Twitter, What Sapp, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snap chat and many more while Twenty percent of youths reported reading a newspaper, book or magazine daily for pleasure.
Moreover, the amount of education youths get from social media is very low compared to reading books. Though social networking serves as a platform which is an algorithm developed to control and dictate how we feel, it has narrowed the educational standard in the youthful population and decreases in depth study. Youths feed on social media by searching what others are doing every day without attainment of knowledge compare to reading books. In view of this, persistent reading can develop the cognitive strength and improves communication skills. This is to say, usual manner of reading increases intellectual performances, helps in manufacturing ideas and evoke them to think.
Also, it is believed that reading enriches one`s intellectual abilities provides insights into human problems, influences attitudes and behaviour.
In conformity with the Guardian publication it was suggested about Two-Thirds of students use social media while in class or reading. Indeed it has distracted and becomes detrimental to students reading habits as well as hampers the cognitive system.
In furtherance, another prominent instance can be the usage of “new’’ abbreviations and emoticons to express oneself on the social media. Regardless of the fact that social networking has twisted many passages for users such as texting, image sharing, audio and video sharing, fast publishing, multimedia authoring, converging with people worldwide with a click on a hyperlink, it has afflicted the way youths express themselves as a result of the ‘’new’’ abbreviations and emojis.
Research conducted by District Investigations in America published that many students from different institutions have inadequate reading abilities, capturing it with the emoticons used and ‘’new’’ abbreviations developed.
Notwithstanding, due to the fast changing content on such websites, the attention span of readers has been reduced. So an important habit of thinking over thought, giving it time to exude in the mind has gone down the drain to an ample extent.
Distinct study administered by the Pakistan Journal of Information Management and Libraries viewed Forty point seven percent (40.7%) of students read only for preparing test, exam and assignment.
Thirty-seven point five percent (37.5%) of students read to enhance knowledge and only Twenty-four point one percent (24.1%) read materials to get more information on a particular topic taught in class. Also, Twenty-two point three percent (22.3%) of students read textbooks or recommended course materials; Twelve point seven percent (12.7%) of students read for recreation, and Six point seven percent (6.7%) of students go through books after every lesson in class.
It is seemed that these stemming decreases in youth book reading habits are caused by social media as it gives no food for thought.
Conclusively, the unproductive use of social media which is one of the paramount causes of the increasing looseness as well as failure towards book reading among youths as a result of the significant time they spend browsing through one platform and the other has spoiled youths reading culture. Also, the ineffective expression nature among youths has fully served as an outcome of ‘’new’’ abbreviations and emoticons developed that which resulted as an impediment to book reading habits among youths.
On the same token, the changing content of social media platforms and the state of applying the mind to something has now drastically reduced reading habits to decline in a compelling degree. Altogether, social media has indeed spoiled youths book reading habits.
