Reading is a necessary component of everyone’s daily life, and some have considered it a good hobby in the form of books. Written writing has been a part of our history since its inception. It is used for communication purposes, story-telling, and a multitude of uses. These stories have fueled imaginations in such works of art like “The Odyssey”, any of Shakespeare’s works, and even “Frankenstein.”

Reading and writing has significantly changed with the inception of the internet. Books have been shifted to online reading, to the point that paper-print and hardback books have been neglected and sometimes even ignored in favor of E-Books. Books written in the past can even be found as PDFs online. However this does not mean reading has lessened, only shifted and changed as more and more generations of people adapt to the easily accessible online sources. And even reading itself has changed. There are multiple translations for each book, a multitude of independent writings, rewrites of famous books, and so much more. But while book reading has been more accessible, so has the amount of information that we receive on a daily basis.

The internet also came with social media sites, such as Reddit, Twitter, and the infamous Facebook. People read and write more than ever, just in a different form. It is more quicker and faster using these methods, and many have stopped reading books in favor of social media posts from their friends, family, and famous celebrities. The style we read at has also shifted from methodical and careful to fast and skimming. If the work does not catch our eye, it is easily forgotten and replaced by something new and eye-grabbing. With each up and coming generation, the difference is staggering. Many of the newer generations favor these sites heavily as their lives revolve more and more around it. Why find and read a physical book when you can probably find it for free online? Why even bother with books when they are not eye-grabbing?

Books will not be gone anytime soon, or probably at all. Their importance is too much to give up. But the internet has definitely taken books and put them into a new format, and even shifted that format to a more quicker and easily accessible platform. While we as a people might read books less, it is easier than ever to find one in your language and start getting lost in its story.