Comments on: Does Blogging Affect Reading Habits?

By: Priya Sivan

Priya Sivan — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 05:45:15 +0000

Blogging has influenced reading habit on the net and affected reading newspapers and magazines. More blogs like Desipundit and Amitvarma’s and we delve in deeper. Intellectual intoxication :)

By: Patrix

Patrix — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 16:38:06 +0000

M, I guess now you know :) Girls instead of blogs? We wouldn’t have a Girllines for that, would we?

By: Jinal Shah

Jinal Shah — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 02:34:00 +0000

Totally. I only buy fiction books now (inspite of the popularity of what-i-did-today and what-i-think blogs, I refrain from reading those)
Earlier I used to buy the cool non-fiction books – about marketing, adveritising, business the works… Now I am happier and content reading the same information online (and I don’t feel guilty spending money on books I never read)

By: Sooraj

Sooraj — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 17:40:08 +0000

God yes! I have the same books on my table for some weeks now – and everytime I look at them, I feel kind of guilty.

By: the One

the One — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 16:21:05 +0000

Well .. one finds that being part of a community of well-read individuals actually makes one want to read more books too. But yes, blogging is definitely time-consuming .. it’s difficult to find the right balance sometimes.

By: sqrlnt

sqrlnt — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 06:31:32 +0000

well, blogs havent changed my reading habits outside cyberland,(well, maybe now I read a wider variety of books, but I dont know if I can attribute that solely to blogs) But online, I prefer to go blog surfing than anything else to spend my time. And yes, I dont think I can stand long posts except from a few people, whom I visit regularly..but that goes for news articles as well. But in all you could say blogs changed my surfing habits, but not reading habits.

and I cannot ever read research articles online.. I am more of a highlighter..(i know, juvenile..) but I dont get the satisfaction of having read an article unless there are pink and yellow lines on it.

By: dreamweaver

dreamweaver — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 01:31:27 +0000

Actually blogs have increased the variety of books I read. The last couple of books that I read were all “blog recommended”.

By: Anup

Anup — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 00:51:08 +0000

It will be a pity if people started to read less books as a result of blogging. I agree with Kevin that it is not possible to gain deeper understanding of a subject without ploughing through a book or a series of well writen, and at times lengthy, articles. Reading shorts blips of information about a subject on the web might give one a false sense of familiarity with the subject. Quite frankly, I have seen that happen to many poeple, myself included at times. On the other hand, you might consider the possibility that blogging is making several people read more than what they normally would have.
Blog related reading takes a lot of my time, but that has not stopped me from reading a print copy of a newspaper whenever I can, nor do I think that I have been reading less books.

By: Jatayu

Jatayu — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 21:00:27 +0000

Agreed ! Regular blog-surfing over the last one year has affected my reading habits in a somewhat similar manner. I find it difficult to read anything online that is verbose and runs into more than 10-15 lines. However, it hasn’t really affected my off-line reading habit. I still enjoy and keep reading books. If anything, by perusing different blogs, I come across a variety of books that I might not otherwise have thought of reading.
Interestingly, with research papers, I find it difficult to concentrate and read them online at one sitting but can do so if the I printout the pdf file and read the hard-copy.
Blogs have also had a profound effect on how I look at everyday events, news, movies, music, sports etc – there is now a corner in my brain that continuously interprets my consiouness through a ‘blog-worthiness’ filter !!

Reagrding the addiction part – lawprof blogger Ann Althouse had this post recently:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/12/internet-addiction-disorder.html

By: m

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 20:56:37 +0000

better blogs than drinks or drugs- although you could opt for girls instead- but then your ash will be on your case……..so i guess enjoy the current weakness. btw- your face has been exposed- partially- thought you wanted to be incognito…….

By: Patrix

Patrix — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:50:59 +0000

Gawker, Yup! it is all about availability of choices and limited time. There is simply so much out there that it is difficult to decide if you are spending your time on the ‘best’ choice.

By: gawker

gawker — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:34:36 +0000

Its similar to what happens when we transitioned from single channel doordarshan to six hundred and seventy eight channel cable television. Previously, even if they showed paint drying on DD, we used to watch it with rapt attention. Then, after the advent of cable, nothing would satisfy us and we kept thinking hey maybe theres something more interesting on some other channel and I’m missing it cause I’m watching this. The “bigger better deal” syndrome.