Read a great deal more newspapers (hard copy) over the Christmas holiday period than I would tend to on a day to day basis. This week was back into reading them online – using the facilities of the relevant websites, browser software and various plugins to focus on what was of direct relevance.
I have commented previously
on the social dimension of reading a physical newspaper in, say, family surrounds as against sitting at a laptop reading whatever. I’m struck more than ever by the difference. Don’t get me wrong – online reading makes it so easy to forward anything of interest to another online contact or to add it to your library (I use zotero). But, in the immediate community, it seems a lot less interesting and a lot less sociable.
I have also notice that the various online versions of the newspapers have been designed to be efficient, searchable, referenceable – but perhaps in striving for this have lost the feel/ charm of a newspaper.
Wonder how others feel.
Hi Barry. I don’t seem to get much time to read newspapers, perhaps because I spend too much time online! And I normally read books on the train. I use RSS feeds to keep track of the news and of blogs that I follow. I use my iPhone apps to read the New York Times, Associated Press, FT, BBC, RTE, etc. And I find this useful for passing interesting stories on to friends and contacts.
I agree that using online media can appear less social. Traveling regularly on the train, I am struck at how so many people are lost in their own worlds on phones, laptops, hand-helds, etc.