In an era where social media use is at an all time high, books have become increasingly forgotten. Books have been the staple of education, entertainment and the like for millenia; however, in the face of modern technology and its rapidly made improvements, the risk of books becoming obsolete grows larger.
A large factor contributing to this phenomenon is the availability of other forms of entertainment that ultimately seem to trump books. Media like movies or video games end up garnering more attention, predominantly because they employ eye-catching colors, sounds and other stark features that can easily cater to people’s senses. Books, on the other hand, do not use these tactics and therefore require readers to use their own imagination.
Oftentimes, many students find that they prefer the aforementioned forms of media when it comes to entertainment, as books prove to require more effort to consume.
“[Other entertainment] can outright provide [the plot] instead of having you engage in the actual act of imagining the whole scenario, scene and characters of a book,” junior Shreyas Cherekar expressed.
The distaste for books, and the effort required in reading them often stems from the lessening attention span seen in many people today. In a world where incredibly short videos, designed to instantly capture one’s attention have instantly risen to popularity, many people find that they lack the amount of attention required to read books. Often, books are not designed with an instant hook.
“Video entertainment requires less imagination, you can just consume the content,” Cherekar continued.
When living busy academic lives, students find that school especially hinders their desire and capability to read for fun.
“I mostly read for school,” sophomore Aditi Yegna explained, “I used to enjoy reading as a hobby, but I just don’t have enough time [anymore].”
While many prefer other forms of entertainment in the face of books, books still retain a decent amount of popularity due to the unique features they offer, such as the utilization of imagination in a way that allows people to imagine the plotline in the way that they and the author want. Often, books allow a different perspective, adding onto the intended meaning that the reader is supposed to derive for themselves.
”You can see through the main character’s eyes, it’s a different world, you’re not just looking at somebody else,” Yegna said.
Even then, other entertainment isn’t completely devoid of meaning, for different art forms come with different means of expression, but books especially allow readers to use their own personal experiences, morals and imagination to take on a unique interpretation.
In the face of busier lives and decreasing attention spans, new media entertainment proves to be ultimately much easier to consume compared to older forms, and books face the far away risk of growing obsolete. However, with the many things they offer that other entertainment does not, that risk is yet to come.