Paper vs. Electronics

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     There has been a substantial shift from paper to electronics in media. Whether it is switching from newspapers to news websites, books to eBooks, magazines to online sites, and the list goes on. There tends to be a good amount of controversy surrounding this topic; it mainly being a generational issue. Older adults thinking back to the days they delivered papers themselves (cough cough my mom), and younger people either preferring the convenience or being environmentally aware.
     I agree with the latter half of this argument. I am not going to lie, I prefer reading a paper book to accessing it electronically, but when I think about the environmental impact paper production has, I create a priority list. As I just told my dear mother, "We can't enjoy the little things if there aren't things to enjoy at all." 
     But, aside from these personal opinions, I wonder how this switch has impacted our interpretation of the media we come across, or if it has impacted it at all. They are the same words, just one set is found on a screen and the other is found on paper. One thing that does make a big difference is the ads. Even though ads in newspapers are very common, the ones online can grab your attention a lot easier, and cannot be ignored as easily. 
     This immediately brings me to the element of distraction that comes from being online. Whenever I am reading a book or article by myself, I find it very hard to become distracted. But, when I look at my interaction with media online, my probability of getting distracted rises greatly. If I have a lot of tabs open on my laptop or there are persistent ads popping up on a website, I tend to think about other things, rather than what I am reading.
     I wonder if this impacts our attention spans/focus in our lives outside of this. I have heard many older people comment on the striking distractedness this new generation has, but I am not sure if they are just annoyed about not knowing how to use their own phones. I have also noticed a reluctance in myself to read large paragraphs or papers in history recently. I believe this could come from my easy access to answers while online or reading article summaries (or maybe it is just the sleep deprivation?).
     Overall, there are good and bad things about each side within every controversy. We must remember that the times are changing, but as the screens become more and more dominant, let us not forget the joys of reading paper books.
  
     

Comments

  1. Cara Ishisaka14 May 2019 at 17:22

    It is crazy to see how far we have evolved with technology. Technology is being used for almost everything now! I mean, schools are now trying to teach through technology by having kids buy Ipads and do all their classwork and homework on that tablet. What's next? I feel that technology is trying to incorporate both the old and new ways together, as you mentioned that ads from newspapers are being seen on the screen when looking at a website. I honestly don't approve of this because it can lead to distraction. I do most of my work on my computer and occassionally end up procrastinating because I get distracted by one click of a button that leads me to a new tab. Because of the advancements made, I found myself to also become lazy when reading things on paper because I am so accustomed to finding a short summary online. We need to still consider the use of paper and reading it physically in front of us, because what's online won't always be there forever unlike paper.

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