Gen Z Reading Habits: Are We Failing Books? 📚
Does Gen Z Read Books?
In short, yes. But definitely not enough. Our generation grew up with technology being a large part of our lives, with 82% of us who use social media on the daily.
Gen Z has taken the time that was originally given to reading & is now putting it towards social media. This isn’t a bad thing though! Gen Z is statistically known to be better at multitasking & is digitally more savvy.
But this still begs the question: why does our generation struggle with reading for joy, when there are so many stories out there waiting to be read?
Books focus on bettering the world by inclusion, valuing people & fighting for what is right.
Digitalising Mediums
E-books have become a pillar of the publishing industry amongst our generation. You can have your entire library on 1 device & it’s also environmentally conscious with the absence of paper.
However, young people are significantly better in comprehension skills when reading the same text on print, rather than on digital screens.
So, is the drastic push toward e-books & digital reading really necessary?
No Accounting For Taste
The most common genres trending are Fantasy & Young Adult Fiction. This makes sense, since the majority of Wattpad & Ao3 users are part of Gen Z.
Surprisingly, the majority of young people still prefer to read in print rather than on online platforms. They do however use social media to spread knowledge about books & share recommendations with one another.
A great example is the “booktok” corner of TikTok, where teens share their must-reads. This comes as a result of the pandemic, which shows that Gen Z has increased its reading more than any other generation since the virus first hit.