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If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

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Re: If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

#51

Post by squigz »

peterspath wrote: post #16

Yes. I will hit 52 books this year next week :) I am happy that I started reading again. It is helpful to slow down, relax, be entertained, or learn something.

I'm pretty happy to say I've read somewhere between 20-30 books this year*. Right now making my way through The Silmarillion finally. I also read the entire Aubrey-Maturin series, which was incredible, even if they were probably the hardest books I've ever read.

(* Less happy to say it's mostly because I've been cripplingly depressed but hey, reading is reading)

Re: If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

#52

Post by aslansahin »

The ideal social media would be one without doomscrolling algo. It could still have scrolling/swiping but you'd know where you start and where you are going and where you're caught up -like reading book:) Then we might actually have time to read after catching up on the things we care about.

Re: If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

#53

Post by analog31 »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #33
ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #11

To me, yes. Well, I've never been on "social media", but e.g. at night before bed some times I scroll on HN for a long time before falling asleep (30min-1hr). If I commit myself not to, I read instead. The thing we should be talking about is forms of entertainment, and social media is just one type of entertainment. We should be discussing pros and cons of different forms of entertainment. Instead the discussion is "…

I find it strange that people don't consider HN as social media. I guess the distinction is that you don't usually directly interact with other users, but it has user-generated content, link uploading, very frequent updates, and voting — it ticks many of the same boxes, imo.

The voting is the closest thing it has to algorithmic content selection, it's not tailored to each user, there's no advertising, and rage-bate headings are discouraged if not forbidden. By today's standards, it's quaint.

Re: If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

#55

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

analog31 wrote: post #53
oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it strange that people don't consider HN as social media. I guess the distinction is that you don't usually directly interact with other users, but it has user-generated content, link uploading, very frequent updates, and voting — it ticks many of the same boxes, imo.

The voting is the closest thing it has to algorithmic content selection, it's not tailored to each user, there's no advertising, and rage-bate headings are discouraged if not forbidden. By today's standards, it's quaint.

Oh, it's very good social media, don't get me wrong. I think that's why people avoid the term: social media has pretty negative connotations, so people don't want to use it for things they like.

Re: If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

#57

Post by withzombies »

dgb23 wrote: post #17

This might sound stupid or obvious to some, but I found a way to read books more frequently: Read multiple books at once. For some reason, I read more often and am more motivated when I can switch between books. When I tried to focus on just one, I always got the feeling that I sort of have to read it and that turned me off. Another issue is that I read very slowly and think a lot when reading books, but that's appar…

I read 2 or 3 books at once. I pick the one that fits my mood or my activity -- for example, I'll listen to a low effort audio book when out for a walk or when at the gym.

People are often surprised - "You're reading three books at once?! How do you keep track?". I normally point out that they're probably watching 5 different TV shows right now and they have no problem with that. It's not really different.

Re: If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

#58

Post by phantasmish »

squigz wrote: post #51
peterspath wrote: post #16

Yes. I will hit 52 books this year next week :) I am happy that I started reading again. It is helpful to slow down, relax, be entertained, or learn something.

I'm pretty happy to say I've read somewhere between 20-30 books this year*. Right now making my way through The Silmarillion finally. I also read the entire Aubrey-Maturin series, which was incredible, even if they were probably the hardest books I've ever read. (* Less happy to say it's mostly because I've been cripplingly depressed but hey, reading is reading)

Try The Four Feathers by AEW Mason, if you haven’t. There are also two or three film adaptations, can be fun to see where and how each deviated from the book. And maybe King Solomon’s Mines by H Rider Haggard.

More British old-timey adventuring, though without so many ships.

If you want an antihero-rake and a tale told tongue firmly in cheek, see if the Flashman novels by Fraser are to your liking. Fraser takes a rich school-bully character from a more wholesome series of books and imagines his military & adventuring career in adulthood.

Re: If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?

#59

Post by elcapitan »

I found that it's less about social media, but about not being able to consume more complex content, because you are burnt out at the end of the day, or even the weekend, and therefore falling back to cheap "intellectual calories".

That doesn't go away just because you cut out one potential source of cheap calories. It gets better by first cutting out the source of drainage, which can be very personal. Too many disruptions and pointless interactions in your workday, long commutes, etc.

So I would first try to eliminate some of those, don't fry your brain completely towards the end of the day, and then read. It's much easier with a fresher brain.

It's also possible to read early in the morning, when you're not drained (assuming you still get enough sleep).

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