InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "it's over 9000!!"

randomidiot (orions_stars) wrote,
@ 2008-07-27 22:10:00

Does reading fanfiction count as reading?
from the NY Times: Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?

Of course there is much well-written stuff on the internet. And even material that I previously got in printed and bound form, I'll often get online for free (see Gutenberg Project, or any number of reference material sites) or will listen to an audio version (my public library has audio book downloads online, and I get free audiobooks from Librivox). And goodness knows I spend too much time reading fanfiction myself.

Unfortunately, if the girl in the article is only checking out social networking sites and fanfiction.net... I love fanfiction, but the trash-to-treasure ratio at ff.net is... not good. :( And fanfiction won't ever replace reading an actual, paper book for me.

On the other hand, I really do think the Internet has shrunk my attention span.

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	joanwilder 2008-07-27 10:46 pm UTC (link)
	And it's interesting to note, too, that listening to a book and reading a book exercise different parts of the brain. Passive versus active activities. I listen to books on tape occasionally, but I prefer having a printed page, where I can stop and reflect, jot down a few thoughts, etc. (Reply to this) (Thread)

orions_stars
2008-07-28 09:22 am UTC (link)

I definitely like reading more than listening, and I enjoy reading paper much more than I do a backlit computer screen. (I'd read everything off paper if I could.) But since my commute time has increased to 2-3 hours of my day, I've gotten friendly with the books-on-CD at my library, as well as fanfic podcasts and other online audio resources.

I used to have a rule for myself that I could only listen to an audio book if I'd already read the "real" book (which resulted in my getting the Jim Dale versions of the HP audio books and a lot of classic literature), since I wanted to be able to interpret and digest a written work on my own, at my own pace, first. But now I listen to books when I don't have the time to read (most recently The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, a history of the Protestant Reformation, and Suze Orman's latest) and read other books when I do (currently reading Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Washington, D. C., and The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, because they're only available from my library in print editions). So I only have an audio experience of some books. Which is strange.

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