I do it. It does not help me in any way. It annoys people reading with me or sharing my screen. It baffles even myself. But by god, I cannot help it.
Have you tried selecting text and doing circles or rectangles? Amazing satisfaction!
Poll: Do you select text while reading?
171–180 of 366 posts
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#172Tracking the reading position with a visual guide is one of the fundamental techniques in many speed reading methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading
Interesting, I would have thought that spending time to constantly mark your position would be detrimental to speed reading.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#173When people see that I highlight text while I'm reading, they always want to know what practical reason it serves. The simplest answer is that it kind of helps me track the text, but it's less than that. It also isn't quite just a nervous habit. The only description that makes sense to me is that it feels like a physical connection to the page. More like spinning a pen, or rolling an object in your hand while you thi…
Good call. Like how I used to drag highlight boxes on the desktop when I was thinking of what to do next. I never wanted to select anything, I just liked to do it.
While thinking of what to do next?
Was this before the internet?
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#174Yes, to track my reading position
Yes, to increase text contrast
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good call. Like how I used to drag highlight boxes on the desktop when I was thinking of what to do next. I never wanted to select anything, I just liked to do it.
While thinking of what to do next? Was this before the internet?
This could probably fill an entire separate thread but I love this thought. I am only just now remembering that I actually used to sit down at a computer and .. wait for it.. FINISH. I'd do something.. be done. Then I'd go do something else.
The computer has become infinite. Yikes.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#176I've seen people do this and I've wondered why they do. Thanks for answering this intriguing question!
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#177I answered yes to the first three, because I find myself doing it for a variety of reasons at different times. The most common reason is to keep track of my place when someone calls me or walks in to my office.
The next most common reason is related to the first reason, and it's a shame that I have to do so. When you use text highlighting to track your reading (line by line), it's a sign that the site you're reading has poor typography. Usually:
Measure is too long - when lines of text are long, our eyes have a difficult time "tracking" back to the next line.
Leading is too small - Leading is the space between lines. The space between lines creates a negative void that our eyes follow back to the beginning of the next line. Not enough leading and the line is thin and hard to follow. Too much leading and your eyes get lost in a sea of space.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#178On a related note, at least in Windows, when triple-clicking to select a paragraph, immediate subsequent clicks (any number) do absolutely nothing. This really bothers me when selecting words because sometimes I triple-click instead of double-click by accident, and I want to undo this but it requires waiting.
Yeah, windows multi-click text selection seems completely weird to me, and very frustrating when coming from other platforms...
[Besides the simple "not what I'm used to" factor, any UI behavior that requires waiting seems pretty dubious to me...]
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#179I'd say a combination of the top two.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#180I picked placeholder but I also just randomly select as I go along sometimes with no reason at all. So I kind of track my position but not really because I can track it fine without it but do it sometimes randomly anyway.