Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram • Hacker News Board

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#41

Post by 5ep » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 11:03 AM UTC

I like this project a lot but I question the claim in the headline, that hundreds of thousands of people are reading these novels through NYPL's Instagram stories.

More likely is that the quoted number refers to how many views the stories have received, combined, and then mainly the first pages of each individual story.

The stories have hundreds of pages and there's no way to pick up where you left, so I do not believe people open them more than once. I'm guessing that none of the 300,000 viewers have actually read any of the books until completion , through these stories.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#42

Post by nervousvarun » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 11:07 AM UTC

_august wrote: post #25

Try it yourself, it’s pretty cool like an instant ebook. Metamorphosis: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODUyMTE0ODA2MzA3... The Raven: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTYyMTk5MTcwMTYz... Alice In Wonderland: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTQ0MTEwMzE5MTg4... — I find the top comment quite cynical, it’s literally the same as reading text on an ebook or even paperback. IMO once you…

I did just try...but I noticed they require a login/account.

I usually don't have this issue with my ebooks/paperbacks.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#43

Post by danielnixon » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 11:21 AM UTC

foobarbecue wrote: post #31

Another example of how technologically inferior platforms can be successful given the right exposure. (this is obviously inferior because the user cannot reflow the text, change font color, copy paste, highlight, etc.)

Nor in some cases even read at all https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-cont...

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#44

Post by hos234 » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 11:22 AM UTC

jimws wrote: post #37

hos234 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have broken the internet by banning hyperlinks. So naturally everything starts happening inside the app. How would you do copy a quote, table of contents or term lookups? I can't even check out the links u posted cause it asks me to login.

While I agree that this is strictly worse than current document and eBook formats meant for computers, this inarguably not much worse than physical books. We couldn't have copied quotes or table of contents in a physical book.

I get the users are just looking for ways of doing thing they like. Many won't know what features are available elsewhere. Sooner or later they will start grumbling about it.

And then expect Zuck and his henchmen, to come up with retarded round about ways to provide the features. "We pay close attention to our cattle. Our new AI based cloud OCR can identify upto 40% of all words on a single page! You can even copy and paste some of them etc etc".

I personally don't like reading books on the Kindle or Phone but do find the bookmarking/lookup/navigation features very useful and of course the ability to store a zillion books. Given all those advantages expect some Facebook exec to start drawing up master plans.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#45

Post by meshenna » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 11:32 AM UTC

A part of me is appalled, but another is amused and intrigued. "The street finds its own uses for things," I guess.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#46

Post by mikece » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 11:47 AM UTC

Isn’t this exactly what Steve Jobs hoped would happen when iBooks was introduced? That a new, multimedia format where books “come to life with animations and video” would be born... granted he hoped such creators would do this for the ipad’s ebooks and not Insta-Face-App.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#47

Post by jasode » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 12:08 PM UTC

saalweachter wrote: post #40

jasode wrote: post #35

Since a few comments mention the superiority of "real books", maybe those with that opinion see Instagram as downgrading the reading experience. For some perspective, keep in mind that many famous novels were originally magazine or newspaper installments.[0] Therefore, reading works like Dumas' "Count of Monte Cristo", Dostoevsky's "Crime & Punishment", or Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" -- in consolidated book form -- is…

You will find a certain argument that you are "reading" all poetry wrong, if you are not reading it aloud.

Likewise, "The Iliad" with its repetitions of text that look tedious in written form is really a long poem that's meant to be performed and heard. The oral repetitions are a memory aid for the audience listening to the story. Some historians say the itinerant wanderer would also have a lute to pluck some music accompaniment to add drama to key parts of the poem.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#48

Post by globuous » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 12:09 PM UTC

jasode wrote: post #35

Since a few comments mention the superiority of "real books", maybe those with that opinion see Instagram as downgrading the reading experience. For some perspective, keep in mind that many famous novels were originally magazine or newspaper installments.[0] Therefore, reading works like Dumas' "Count of Monte Cristo", Dostoevsky's "Crime & Punishment", or Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" -- in consolidated book form -- is…

Definitely, and in a sense a novel back then was much closer to nowaday’s shows, that come with a new piece of the story every week.

Slightly off topic, but since your brought it up, ive just finished the count of monte cristo, and it is the most fantastic and incredible story i have ever heard. Its a story of broken hearts and vengeance like never before nor after. I couldnt believe someone had imagined such an incredible story, and it turns out the book is loosely based of off a true story. Because you couldnt make it up ;p besides, at least in french, it is very well written. Not at all « heavy » to read, it flows very well, it really does not feel like it was written back then.

So if you’ve been looking for a book to read while commuting, i couldnt recommend this one more, enjoy ! ;)

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#49

Post by CathedralBorrow » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 12:34 PM UTC

phillipamann wrote: post #9

It is likely that if you did an experiment that compared retention and understanding of reading with the real books and these Instagram Stories, the readers of real books would trounce the Instagram readers. I suppose that something is better than nothing but at a certain point, I also wonder, what is the point of doing this? I wonder how many Instagram readers will drop their habits and read more? I also wonder how…

> I also wonder, what is the point of doing this?

This is answered in the article:

"The project, known as Insta Novels, is part of the NYPL’s goal to reach beyond its walls and convince more people to read books."

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#50

Post by jordanpg » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 12:36 PM UTC

Am I the only one that's skeptical of the claim that "300,000 people are reading books this way"?

That there are 300k people who are now suddenly "reading" books that have been available in a huge variety of formats in the public domain for years because they show up on Instagram?

Show me the actual usage data. How many of these 300k got past page 3?

The design is nice, the presentation is good, yes, but I doubt very seriously the existence of this hidden, neglected population of bibliophiles.