Do zoomers read?

[Anonymous No.18164605]

I'm honestly curios. It seems that the last big readers were millenials and zooms born in the late 90s because that's the last time we saw books becoming a cultural phenomenon. Even all these YA books that get released are usually read by women in their mid to late 20s. I understand obviously there are some zooms who read but it seems more like a niche hobby now

[Anonymous No.18164734]

I think all the people in that age group who would have been reading YA novels 10 years ago are all reading japanese light novels now, which is why you never really see them hanging out in more lit spaces cause they just go talk about it on anime discords and such. When they hit mid 20s they might start reading classics.
t. 1996 half millenial zoomer

[Anonymous No.18164752]

>>18164605
a few zoomers i've seen at the library never leave the manga section which is a start i guess. i wouldn't expect them to read classics tbf
they'll realise in their own time that manga is trash a big waste of time, at least theres a hope for them since they enter the library. i'm not entirely hopeful for the ones that dont even bother to pick up ANY book, even if its manga, its a start.

[Anonymous No.18164773]

>>18164605
I'm 22 and i'm just starting to read more serious works, I plan to focus on schopenhauer eventually, but I like other authors too

So far the character i really identify with down to the bone would be dostoyevsky's 40 year old man in notes from underground

[Anonymous No.18164780]

every single zoomer i know, only does audible and say they read

[Anonymous No.18164815]

I know that the early zoomers born in the late 90s still do, although I only know a few people in my agegroup who read actual literature and not just YA, nonfiction and the occasional Coelho. As for bona fide zoomers, those born after the 2000s, I know a single person who reads regularly and the most challenging thing she read so far was John Green. Granted, she's 19 and I know few people who are that young, but that still looks like a bleak picture.

I'm sure the reality of it isn't as bad as we make it out to be here. The people who read literature are probably drowned out by those who brag about listening to audibooks and the likes.

[Anonymous No.18164821]

>>18164605
My niece and nephews don't read
My peer group doesn't read
Anecdotally both the upper and lower bounds of zoomers seem to hate books. The millenial anti-intellectual de-challenging of public schools won
Books are bad and too hard

[Anonymous No.18164825]

>>18164780
literally me. cope sneed and feed boomer I absorb the information more efficiently.

[Anonymous No.18164827]

>>18164605
My best friend's brother is 17 and the prospect of reading a book for him is ridiculous. We once went on a quite long train trip and when he had no data on his phone he started complaining, so me and my friend, who are ten year older and grew up during the hipster fase when reading (or posing as a reader) was at least considered cool, suggest that he read a book. He laughed at us. "Yeah, a book." Then kept being angry at his phone while we were reading. I had my best reading sessions on trains during my university days, and keep doing it right now, but I feel like zoomers just don't contemplate the option of doing this. I also had to give some talks in high schools about careers in the humanities and almost no one wants to try - which is understandable, given the current state of the economy. In my high school year, 3 out of 21 people chose to study humanities, but it was at least considered cool, or there was a sense of importance to what we did, as if we were the people choosing to risk something for the passion of something "higher". Now the idea of reading as "higher" or even "cool" doesn't seem to exist among people that age. This is bad and good. Bad because of course zoomers are almost incapable of expressing themselves correctly: working as a TA I can confirm that their essays get worse every year because they very clearly don't read and are getting increasingly unable to express themselves verbally (e.g. my best friend's little brother from the train story has almost never wrote an ig story without typos, all he writes are cringy rap lyrics full of errors, terrible rhymes and methric mistakes that even the worst black rapper from 15 years ago would have been capable of avoiding). On the other hand this is good because it makes people like me, who are averagely well-read, look like gods on earth every time we open our mouth to speak. The more time passes and people "zoomify" themselves, the more powerful people who are capable of writing a formal email become. I secured a room abroad only because of that, can approach basically any stranger via email without sounding like a mentally ill person (although I am one), and I made at least 500 bucks in the last three months by proofreading applications for zoomers going into university who couldn't write a personal statement with a gun pointed at their head.

[Anonymous No.18164849]

The Zoomers who read are fujos who spend 8 hours a day on Archive of Our Own

[Anonymous No.18164853]

>>18164827
I haven't met someone below the age of 24 who hasn't said some variation of
"Books? I would like to read more but it's too hard."
or
"I hate reading! It's so boring!"

[Anonymous No.18164894]

>>18164605
They not only don't read, they don't even watch film or tv. My cousin was here during winter break and instead of watching movies he'd just sit there and look up the summary of it on his phone. And then he'd talk to me about the movie based on what he read.

[Anonymous No.18164925]

>>18164605

Let's say that what anons are saying in this thread is true, that zoomers barely read or even watch films other than the lowest level entertainment, what does that imply for the future? A stronger intellectual elite in the future, or anyone who doesn't talk in memes will be a "boomer" on the fringes?

[Anonymous No.18164974]

>>18164925
>that zoomers barely read
Reading was always a niche hobby, I think the real problem is that language itself is deteriorating. Why express yourself when you can just reiterate a known meme to fit the situation?

[Anonymous No.18164985]

>>18164925
They're obsessed with consuming bite sized snippets of information on their phones. I read that reading rate has gone up overall; it's just not published or curated material but forum posts, social media, and short reviews/summaries other people have written about books and film.

They don't want to expend the effort of reading the source material and coming to the conclusion on their own because they don't have the patience or will power for it. In some ways they're becoming too efficient (in the Fordism/BNW sense). By not actively going through the pitfalls, misunderstandings, and negative examples one would encounter from reading and only exposing themselves to ready made summaries they're losing that mental function.

Another thing that made me feel old is how comfortable they are operating on a tiny screen on a gimped operating system. I can't get any work done without dual monitors. But it's not even that they are more efficient with mobile technology than I am, it's that they're fundamentally satisfied with a lesser experience and lesser productivity.

[Anonymous No.18165027]

>>18164605
My brother born in the early 2000 doesn't. His friends also.
t.late 90s zoom zoom

[Anonymous No.18165035]

Same with every other generation; some read, most don't.

[Anonymous No.18165063]

>>18164985
About the productivity argument. It really depends on what you are working on (or waste your time on). I don't think messaging, posting and talking in a discord server, can benefit from dual monitors and a desktop. As for other work, they don't do it often to justify a need for those.

[Anonymous No.18165065]

>>18165035
Technology and information access aren't the same every generation so I don't know why you expect people to be. At the most you can say they're roughly the same in between paradigm shifts.

But going from the oral tradition to the written word changed things. Going from hand copied books to the Gutenberg press changed things. And now transitioning to smartphone/web 2.0/social media will change things to.

[Anonymous No.18165077]

>>18165065
things change and people never know what to make of it so they get scared

[Anonymous No.18165088]

>>18164734
I'm 23 and relate to this, used to read manga and fantasy but moved on to literature as I got older. In general though I don't know anyone my age that reads, it sucks to not have a single friend I can discuss books with.

[Anonymous No.18165135]

I'm 21 and I read a lot, yet every time the subject comes up I speak negatively about reading. It's undeniable that reading is the best source of information, but the way people idolize reading in itself, rather than what is being read, has always annoyed me. I've spoken with teachers who are so proud of getting kids to read The Hunger Games, and I just don't get it.

[Anonymous No.18165144]

>>18164734
>When they hit mid 20s they might start reading classics.
And this isn't a good thing. Adults in their 20s are watching old Disney movies. Stuff that was for kids is now only digestible to older people. Young can't even watch something like The Jungle Book, they get bored almost instantly. Those mid 20 year olds will read shit that you're supposed to read in your formative years. Every generation is going to watch children's media later and later in life.

[Anonymous No.18165147]

>>18165135
>I've spoken with teachers who are so proud of getting kids to read The Hunger Games, and I just don't get it.
The thought proccess goes like that: >start small
>keep reading
>start liking reading
>eventually read classics, philosophy, etc.
It might go like that, but probably most will stick the fantasy genre and won't step beyond that. For the few that will step further it's worth the trouble.

[Anonymous No.18165157]

>>18164827
Check your ego my man, I'm cringing at your post. You over-extrapolate from experiences that fit your narrative, the problem with that 17-year-old is not that he is a zoomer but rather that he is a total idiot.

[Anonymous No.18165198]

>>18165147
Yes, your insight into their thought process is correct. But they don't push children to move beyond that level. Books obviously won't beat vidya, movies, etc in terms of pure entertainment value. You need to challenge the children intellectually. Have them read one of Plato's dialogues and give their thoughts on it. Don't judge them harshly on it, just see what they got from reading it, and what their thoughts on the topics are. That would be leaps and bounds better than this nonsense about reading YA over the summer and writing an essay on it. The problem is that the teachers themselves aren't very bright, so they're only capable of following instructions handed to them by someone else. These detailed instructions have a dulling effect on the mind by focusing on checking boxes; but having teachers measure the growth and substance of the child would just result in them tyrannizing the classroom. Not really a winning scenario I suppose.

[Anonymous No.18165202]

>>18165157
>my man, I'm cringing at your post
This is the writing of someone who's developed e-brain after years of mind rot.

[Anonymous No.18165272]

>>18165198
Mass education doesn't cater to the needs of an individual child. It's about being able to do the basics. Learn to do simple math, write an essay, know some things about the world around you and learn to behave. Reading a book during summer and writing an essay about it, seems to be one of the basic skills one needs today in America (or any European country).
What you propose is interesting, but outside the purpose of mass education. It can be done by the parents of the child, though.
On the other hand you have the problem of the teachers. As you said
>the teachers themselves aren't very bright, so they're only capable of following instructions handed to them by someone else
There you have it. Your proposal is a specialization for a general system. It could not work for every child and can't be done by every teacher.

[Anonymous No.18165288]

>>18164827
Kek, this is all correct and I like your sense of humour. Congrats!

[Anonymous No.18165292]

>>18164827
>even the worst black rapper
kek
>On the other hand this is good because it makes people like me, who are averagely well-read, look like gods on earth every time we open our mouth to speak.
>The more time passes and people "zoomify" themselves, the more powerful people who are capable of writing a formal email become.
You don't sound smart to a zoomer, you probably look like a pretentious know-it-all. You will only sound smart to a zoomer if there is established consensus (read: mass media) that you're a smart person, and by this I mean that you have to be in a strong position of authority. Nobody cares about academics because you don't get in academia with upvotes. See, zoomers are trained since birth to never develop a mind of their own so their opinions are based on mass media. I think your idea that words have power in a world with a degraded vocabulary is naive, the truth is that other metrics will establish who is right. You may have a way with words but who cares? You sound like a schizo anyway, tl:dr. They'll listen to the person who makes an attention grabbing tweet instead. Short, to the point, doesn't matter if it's true or reasonable. If this wasn't the case then woke activists wouldn't have toppled scientific consensus by screeching really hard.

[Anonymous No.18165315]

19 and i read atleast (Mostly continental philosophy)

[Anonymous No.18165378]

>>18165315
Are u retarded? Of course you read. We are on /lit/, don't you remember? Is there something that makes you think the question was about you and not the average zoomer? Or you just posted to make sure we know that you read? Holy shit, these zoomers...

[Anonymous No.18165417]

I read the whole western canon
t.black zoomer

[Anonymous No.18165432]

>>18165417
Based. Any works that made you found particularly interesting?

[Anonymous No.18165439]

>>18165432
Fuck I think I had a stroke there or something

[Anonymous No.18165504]

>>18165432
they were all riveting in some way, but I'm very partial to the Greeks and Spinoza as they made the most sense to me

[Anonymous No.18165580]

Zoomer highschooler here, i'll bring up a book in a conversation without any agenda and this girl just straight up said "I don't read" with a straight face not realising that she sounds like an actual retard. what makes it even more retarded is that this is a person that is in top set english, maths, cares about school and studies. man I I hate education people like her don't want to learn anything they just want to get on top.

[Anonymous No.18165642]

>>18164605
It's about the only thing I still enjoy

[Anonymous No.18165669]

>>18164605
I'm 20 now and I read quite a bit, maybe not as much as I'd like but I do sometimes get weird looks from other people around my age who don't read at all. A lot of zoomers just watch tv and play vidya or use tiktok which is a bummer but there are a few who read, this could just be my friend group though

[Anonymous No.18165744]

>>18165378
Maybe i'm not a /lit/izen and just a traveler.

[Anonymous No.18165781]

I'm a 22-year old '99-zoomer, and it feels like the zoomers around my age are quite different from later zoomers. Most are very pleasant to be around, aren't really into the whole "zoomer culture", and a lot of them do read. I don't do as much pleasure-reading as I'd like to nowadays, but that's because I'm occupied with other things as well. When I do read it's either Plato or some classic.

[Anonymous No.18165797]

>>18165198
>. Have them read one of Plato's dialogues
You're overestimating a kid's patience and motivation. You seem to have an idealist nature of children and if you were in charge of the curriculum they'd all be bored out of their minds and would instant resort to looking up spark notes on their phone

[Anonymous No.18165813]

>>18165797
It entirely depends on the student body. I was a GATE kid and my highschool was making me read YA crap, while my parents were reading the Greeks in middle school in their commie country lmao.

[Anonymous No.18165842]

>>18165198
The greeks didn't think children should be taught philosophy

[Anonymous No.18165845]

>>18165813
My grandpa, bless his soul, learnt Latin and the classics in school, since it was a mandatory requirement to have basic knowledge of those things in his time. I had to learn it all by myself because school gave me nothing.

[Anonymous No.18165856]

>>18164605
Not even /lit/ zoomers read. And if you read you would've figured this out.

[Anonymous No.18165879]

>>18165813
Yeah you're out of touch due to your privileged upbringing. I bet you like to fantasize yourself as Robin Williams in Dead Reader's Society, or Jack Black in School of English Lit or Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver Plato's Dialogues to Inner City Kids Who've Only Ever Read Harry Potter


pro tip: you're just setting yourself up for disappointment

[Anonymous No.18165896]

>>18164605
I am 22. I read, but basically just sci-fi and fantasy.
Nobody I know reads, aside from manga, comics, and YA

[Anonymous No.18165924]

What you need is to gamify reading. Use the kids biology and penchant for competition against them. Give them all anonymous ID's, each associated with goodreads reading statistics. Post these stats on the walls so they can see where they stand in relation to the rest of the class. That's how my calc teacher did it.

[Anonymous No.18165955]

>>18164605
>I just don't have the time
Pisses me off. 90% of people who say this shit about any pursuit that they feel they should be doing but aren't, would have the time, it's just being spent on other bullshit
If you spend 4 hours a day watching TV or scrooling twitter then you have time to work out or read a book. Just say you don't want to, don't act as if society is oppressing you so hard that you just can't find the time to do anything other than rot and mold into your cheap, fake hardwood floors
Fuck

[Anonymous No.18166009]

>>18165797
I don't care if they read sparknotes, as long as they're getting the information. What I want is for them to develop the ability to interact with ideas. That's why I chose Platonic dialogues rather than more traditional literature.

[Anonymous No.18166037]

>>18165845
Yeah the education system really went to the shitter here. It's glorified daycare.
>>18165879
What? I don't understand what you're saying. My whole point was that my school experience was horrible and that I am uneducated.
Also I don't like Plato I think he's gay and prefer heraclitus and diogenes

[Anonymous No.18166052]

>>18166009
>ability to interact with ideas
>copy and paste the spark notes, skips your classes and feels content passing your class with a 65
>never thinks of you or your lessons again
Were you made in a lab or was your upbringing really so sheltered and culturally isolated that you don't understand the average youth?
I had a teacher when I was a kid, maybe 5th grade or so, who taught us greek history and philosophy. We spent most of the classes just sitting around and chatting. The only reason any of the kids, myself included, engaged with the lessons was because the teacher was sociable and didn't make the material feel like a chore
You would almost certainly be bullied or abused by your students and for your ignorant, idealized view of kids, would deserve it

[Anonymous No.18166098]

>>18164605
I'm a zoomer and I think we fall into three categories: people who read a lot, normal people, and people who don't at all. There are people (stereotypical nerds but without the bullying) who read a lot, and mostly classics. Normal people read a bit, but mostly pop-culture books like John Green (though so do I) and classics like Jane Austen / period novels. People who don't read at all are the ones who get 65s in classes and skip English.

[Anonymous No.18166250]

>>18165813
My parents also come from a commie country and read the same stuff, and I've always noticed that they've memorized Plato and Aristotle's arguments completely, but can't give a criticism or apply it to their lives besides the ones that were drilled into them at school.
Most kids can't understand complex philosophy until at least 16.

[Anonymous No.18166648]

>>18166052
My approach might be rather paternalistic. The idea of being bullied by students is as absurd as a father being bullied by his son.

[Anonymous No.18166846]

>>18164734
Zoomers actually believe that reading manga == reading classic literature. They're almost hopeless.