There are conflicting views about whether or not online reading is really reading, but either way, it is becoming more prevalent. With advances in technology, there is an influx in online screen-based reading as opposed to the traditional reading of paper sources. In the digital age, online reading is just a part of today’s society, but the negative effects seem to balance out the positive. Because of this balancing act of sorts, online and paper reading are equally effective.
Reading is characterized as a form of cognition in which the brain decodes words and symbols to gain or form meaning from them. By this definition, online reading is just as equal a form of reading as paper; the difference is in the consumption of the actual information. Contrasting forms of medial stimulation affect the brain differently. People’s brains are “plastic,” meaning that they are susceptible to change throughout life depending on the differing stimulation a person receives (Hayles 192). Those who read primarily and those who primarily use other forms of media have differing brain wirings and in turn, learn and think differently (192). …show more content…
This dependency stems from the ability of technology to accomplish tasks faster and more productively than previous. Because of this fairly new habit that has been formed, online reading has become more commonly used than reading on paper, which has been the primary form of reading since paper was invented thousands of years ago. Since reading has been on paper for so long, people are skeptical of this new way of doing so; however, the benefits of reading online are
Reading is characterized as a form of cognition in which the brain decodes words and symbols to gain or form meaning from them. By this definition, online reading is just as equal a form of reading as paper; the difference is in the consumption of the actual information. Contrasting forms of medial stimulation affect the brain differently. People’s brains are “plastic,” meaning that they are susceptible to change throughout life depending on the differing stimulation a person receives (Hayles 192). Those who read primarily and those who primarily use other forms of media have differing brain wirings and in turn, learn and think differently (192). …show more content…
This dependency stems from the ability of technology to accomplish tasks faster and more productively than previous. Because of this fairly new habit that has been formed, online reading has become more commonly used than reading on paper, which has been the primary form of reading since paper was invented thousands of years ago. Since reading has been on paper for so long, people are skeptical of this new way of doing so; however, the benefits of reading online are