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Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

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Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#51

Post by CathedralBorrow »

DJHenk wrote: post #11

Wow, talking about putting the horse behind the carriage. So, people don't have the concentration to read a book anymore. But instead of fixing the cause of this, whatever it is, we mangle them through platforms that weren't designed for it and if there is some success, we claim that people are reading again. Of course they are not. It's a whole different experience. It can be nice and it can add to the experiences t…

> we claim that people are reading again. Of course they are not. It's a whole different experience. It can be nice and it can add to the experiences that we already knew, but it is definitely not the same as reading a book. It is more like seeing the movie adaptation of the book.

This really sounds like you just don't like it because it's not how you would like the reading experience to be. Are you open to the idea that someone can have a meaningful reading experience that's wildly different to yours?

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#52

Post by Rerarom »

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…

And the right way of reading Harry Potter, I presume, is with two-year intervals between books, as God and Rowling intended.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#53

Post by interestica »

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…

> it is likely

There's no basis in that assumption. In fact, I'd argue that it's possible that this format (interspersed with graphics and with a user base tuned to ingest content in a certain way) may actually aid retention and understanding. Instagram users have gotten very good at quickly gleaning information from the format. There's a huge userbase and they are not likely carrying around a physical book or eReader. This book format is essentially on them at all times and takes advantage of the potential to "hook" a user at an opportune moment.

Instagram users aren't expected to "drop their habits". Their habit is one of consumption - this just fits into that habit.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#54

Post by damontal »

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…

Anecdotal but I find I retain a audiobooks I've listened to far more than actual physical books I've read.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#55

Post by jobigoud »

_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…

> it’s literally the same as reading text on an ebook or even paperback

Not literally. On an ebook I can add inline notes and then jump to them later (I occasionally do this when a passage sparks an idea). And search text.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#56

Post by grawprog »

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.

>We couldn't have copied quotes or table of contents in a physical book.

Photocopiers have existed for quite a while.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#57

Post by jasode »

jordanpg wrote: post #50

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…

>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?

I can't speak to the 300k number but an increase in readership is plausible because I saw how reducing friction to consume a book can massively change reading habits. E.g. my friend with the new Kindle finally got around to reading the classics like "Madame Bovary" and "Anna Karenina" because she could get ebooks from Amazon for $0.00 (or sometimes a tiny amount like 95 cents).

The previous existence of those public domain books on Gutenberg Project's website was irrelevant since the HTML or TXT files weren't easy to consume unless one printed them out on a printer.

Yes, public domain books have always been sold on Amazon as real paper books but the shipping would end up being $3.99 even for a book costing $0.00.

The Kindle e-reader was the technology to enable her to read public domain books for free with minimum friction. (Even a trip to the public library to check out and later return a physical book for "free" is too much of a hassle.)

I can see how this NYPL project is trying to make a friction-free book reading experience for Instagram users who already own their smartphones. No Kindle purchase necessary. (In my other comment, I mention how millions of Chinese people are reading books on their smartphones.)

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#58

Post by shantly »

jasode wrote: post #47
saalweachter wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The Iliad has nothing on other literature from around the same time and earlier, most of which is Egyptian or Babylonian / Akkadian. The latter, especially, I find damn near un-readable for that reason. What little Ancient Egyptian storytelling we have is similar, lots of repetition probably to make it easier to recite from memory, but (massive exception of Gilgamesh aside—holy crap it's good) they're better storytellers so it's a bit more tolerable.

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#59

Post by zwily »

grawprog wrote: post #56
jimws wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>We couldn't have copied quotes or table of contents in a physical book. Photocopiers have existed for quite a while.

And you can screenshot an Instagram story...

Re: Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram

#60

Post by shantly »

feintruled wrote: post #32
DJHenk wrote: post #11

Wow, talking about putting the horse behind the carriage. So, people don't have the concentration to read a book anymore. But instead of fixing the cause of this, whatever it is, we mangle them through platforms that weren't designed for it and if there is some success, we claim that people are reading again. Of course they are not. It's a whole different experience. It can be nice and it can add to the experiences t…

I had some of the same snobbery about audiobooks (which one could level the same criticisms at, maybe even more so). But I have tried a few recently, and have to admit I got a lot out of the experience, maybe even more than reading it myself in the case of some of the better narrations. I don't think your comparison to a movie adaption works at all. It is very much like reading the book - you consume the same text. T…

Audio books are fine but I've heard from teacher friends that a very high percentage of middle-school-aged kids now strongly resist reading without also having the audio version playing. I suspect access to such has stunted their ability to 1) sound out new words, and 2) to pick up tone, cadence et c from text alone. I find this worrying.

Last year my then-kindergartener's "reading time" at school turned out largely to be having the school iPad read to her. She got worse at reading for months before we realized what was going on and how much work we'd have to do at home to undo the damage the school was inflicting. If you give them the option plus little supervision of course they'll take the easy way. Ugh.

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