Though I have a huge collection of books spanning different genres (e.g., poetry, novels, essays, biographies, etc.), none of my family members bother to look at them. They are happily married to their smartphones.
You'll find my mom always busy watching YouTube and Facebook videos. She even watches TV serials on YouTube in her spare time. No matter how much I encourage her to read books, she isn't going to waste her time reading books. Because reading takes some efforts when watching stupidity on the screen cost you nothing.
My father is no different from my mother — busy with YouTube and Facebook. What worries me the most is his tendency to believe everything he sees online. He can easily be misled by any AI-generated photos or videos. He also consumes lots of religious nonsense videos which have almost nothing to do with religion. They are just clickbaits created to suck your attention and views. I always tell my father to read real books and holy scriptures if he's interested in learning more about religion. But he isn't going to do that. He is quite content with the cheap entertainment he gets on the screen.
Then there's my younger brother, aged 20, obsessed with games, anime, and music. He practically lives in his own world, treating our house like a hotel. As soon as he enters the house, he goes to his room and locks the door. All day long, he remains engrossed in himself — watching anime, playing games, or sleeping. He hardly even talks to other people in the family. I really don't understand this generation.
Interestingly, he was an avid reader in his childhood years. Before the invasion of YouTube in his world, he would spend hours reading books on different topics. In fifth grade, he even started a book club with his friends and classmates. Sadly, it's been years since I've seen him find pleasure in reading books.
So, almost none of my family members bother to leave their smartphones alone for a second and pick up a book to enlighten themselves or widen their worldview. And it's not entirely their fault. The attention hijackers have made their apps far too irresistible to ignore. You just cannot escape their trap.
In my family, I'm the rare creature who tries to read at least a few pages every night. However, it seems quite tough nowadays. Everytime I'm in the middle of an awesome read, either a phone call or a social media notification, or anything else that requires me to pick up the phone, is going to distract me and kill the flow.
In the sea of digital distractions we live in today, it's become quite impossible to fully immerse yourself in the magical world of books. Because our attention has been hijacked, and now we're nothing but some puppets of big corporations.
Attention hijackers like Meta, X, TikTok, and YouTube have rewired our brains and changed our behavior in a way that we can no longer go a second without constantly browsing their apps. In the name of connecting us, they are driving us further from ourselves through emotional manipulation.
We are under their spell, and breaking free seems increasingly unlikely. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is killing our ability to focus on one thing for longer period.
As I see it everywhere, the addictive nature of these so-called social media apps has turned this entire generation into zombies glued to their screens.
It doesn't mean that we aren't buying books. Of course, some people are buying books, especially self-help types, which often dominate the market. The funny thing is — your self-help book purchase only only helps the publishers and the writers — not yourself. There's no ending of buying self-help books. It's a weird obsession.
How about reading poetry or a wonderful novel? Or an outstanding biography? Have you read any recently?
Probably not.
Internet and social media killed a wonderful habit of ours that we hold very dear to our heart. Now our mind has become restless and we only crave easy dopamine hits. It's evident that from kids to adults to elderly, nobody is finding pleasure in reading anymore.
A recent survey by National Literacy Trust (NLT) in the UK suggests that more than 56% of eight to 18-year-olds do not enjoy reading in their spare time.
Seriously, why would you go through the effort of buying and reading a book for pleasure when you have an endless supply of stupidity and fun available on your phone for free?
If you ask me — I really miss those smartphone-free days when I would pick up a book, head to the nearby lake where I sit on the bench amidst nature and dive deep into its pages until I lost track of time.
As the sun slowly descended and darkness gradually enveloped the surroundings, I would leave the serenity feeling content and happy, knowing that my day was well spent.
Now, it's hard — extremely hard as digital distractions are getting stronger and stronger every second. Reading books (as I and many of our knew it) died a slow and painful death.
When was the last time you read an entire book in one sitting or a couple?
Can you remember the name of the book? Can you recall the moment when you became so engrossed in the story that you lost track of time? Can you revisit the memory of finishing the book and how you felt after completing it?
Let me know your experience in the comment.
If you want to read more of my writings, do check out the following articles.