Online VS. Offline reading

Is the internet or Google making us stupid? What is it that sparks debate over what is really happening? Are we just not wanting to read because the internet is more interesting, or is it just because the internet condenses things to allow for a faster read? These are all relevant augments to why the internet is more appealing then a novel or book. Books are a great source of leisure and entertainment to some but others just don't have the time or energy to read.

The article “Is Google making us stupid?” was very interesting to me because it helped me understand a lot of things. Although it is not Google that is making us stupid, it is really the fast paced world we live in. The internet has a tenancy to make everything short and to the point. In turn this makes reading novels and other more traditional readings more time consuming. Living in this fast paced world with many things to worry about and do all the time adults who work and have families find it harder to find time in their days to just sit down and read. In the New York Times online paper database I read an article that answers a lot of the questions and comments that were made in this article. One mother of two children had to take a part time job and says, “she did not have much time to read books herself” (Motoko, 2). Reading everyday as one should is just not realistic in todays lifestyle. American life as life in a majority of the world is fast moving and competitive. If you stop to read your not dog something else that is important for your life, the lives of your family or even your career, so reading has come to short and to the point as well as lots of pictures and space. This is so we can get the information we need and move to the next task at hand. Other mediums have picked up on this as well. A good example is the newspaper. Now we can get what we need from the story just from the headline, enough to mention in the elevator at work or have a clue of whats going on in the world. The Google article touches on this when it says, “A new e-mail message, for instance, may announce its arrival as we're reading over the latest headlines at a newspaper's site” (Carr, 4). Here Carr is stating how we can never get away from work long enough to sit down and read the paper, without being called or emailed every second. This is what the world is coming to just persistence and constant work all day everyday.

Yes for some we can read everyday but sometimes reading online can be more fun, especially for the younger generations. The New York Times article revolves around one case study of a 15 year old girl named Nadia. Although a smart student she enjoys the reading on the internet more then novels and books. Although its not that shes reading strictly Instant Messages, emails and networking site messages, shes reading stories online. There are sites that have full stories; however, the difference is that the reader can control the stories. Nadia in the article states, “you could add your own character and twist it the way you want it to be.” (Motoko, 2), Here the article Nadia is talking about how she would alter stories because that is the nature of how the internet stories she reads are structured. The stories allow the reader to get into the story and customize the story the way they like it. Here the difference between reading a novel story and reading on the internet is that on the internet creativity is more highly supported.



Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. 2007. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

Motoko, Rich. Literacy Debate - “Online, R U Really Reading?” NYTimes.com. July 27, 2008. October 2, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?_r=1&oref=slogin