Many define reading as the mere examination of text. If I were to define “reading” as the sustained perusing of text that is usually, but not always, associated with the printed word, “the hours spent prowling the Internet are [indeed] the enemy of reading”. (RICH 2008)
Opponents contend that spending time on the Internet improves literacy in terms of the ability to read and write. The material available online is diverse, presenting different points of views on a topic quite unlike most books. The Internet also encourages writing with websites urging users to share their opinions and comments. Thus, opponents assert that the time devoted to Internet surfing enhances literacy for we are able gather considerably more information and practice our skill of reading and writing.
However, opponents seem to neglect the fact that “many youths spend most of their time on … activities that involve minimal reading at best.”(RICH 2008) Furthermore, they do not take into account the final and perhaps most important facet of “literacy”: the ability to think critically about the text. Most adopt “skim-reading”, a rapid scanning of text to pick out the main ideas, which weakens our capacity for the kind of deep reading required for critical thinking. The Internet may serve up more knowledge than a book can but as Sven Birkerts contends, “we know countless more “bits” of information… [but] we know them without a stable sense of context” (Birkerts 1994). With little time taken to chew on and ponder about the full text, the manner in which we gather online information does diminish literacy.
The practice of “skim-reading” reflects our increasingly shortened attention spans. Many point fingers at the “over-use” of the Internet but opponents argue that the Internet is not the sole culprit. Indeed, it is the modern lifestyle which as a result of technologies and globalisation,