He caught me.
Jakob Nielsen revealed my online secret, and apparently everyone else’s. I don’t read anything all the way through, or word for word on the Internet. I usually end up reading the Headline then make the critical decision of whether to continue to a different site or to quickly skim the page for any interesting details.
The fear of failing another online reading pop quiz in class is the driving force behind me skimming the readings for any details that I think could be a question. So it makes me wonder about the people who aren’t in school and don’t have to worry about tests.
Most of the people I know “read” the news online, and if newspapers were to cease to exist, I worry that it will take reading as we now know it with it. In turn that could be mean that skimming will become the new form of reading.
The idea of people no longer reading information or material all the way through makes me appreciate newspapers, and textbooks more. When I did the newspaper assignment where we had to read it from front to back did enforce the idea that when you have a hard copy of something you are more inclined to read it word for word. The Internet makes things to easy, because if you don’t want to finish reading it you are just a click away.
Skimming could very possibly become the new form of reading.
kchulick