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| Hearsay: |
Slate looks at how we read online and why we choose to read it. You’ll understand the schizo bold use once you read the piece.
Back to the Jungle
Nielsen’s apt description of the online reader: “[U]sers are selfish, lazy, and ruthless.” You, my dear user, pluck the low-hanging fruit. When you arrive on a page, you don’t actually deign to read it. You scan. If you don’t see what you need, you’re gone.And it’s not you who has to change. It’s me, the writer
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June 20th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
That’s interesting. I know I skim heartlessly on the web, but I definitely read more of that article than I would normally have read, and I’m sure it’s due to the spacing.
June 21st, 2008 at 3:32 am
Since I publish my fiction solely online, this is of considerable interest – and dismay. I can only hope there are different kinds of readers out there.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
The medium is the message.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:57 pm
See also: Is Google making us Stupid? in this month’s Atlantic.
June 21st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I read it all, just to prove them wrong.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:10 am
Rather, paper seems to be the new Prozac. A balm for the distracted mind. It’s contained, offline, tactile. William Powers writes about this elegantly in his essay “Hamlet’s BlackBerry: Why Paper Is Eternal.” He describes the white stuff as “a still point, an anchor for the consciousness.”
Well sure, that’s fine for people who learned to read – or developed a love of reading – on paper.
Will anyone devlop a real love of reading online? (there was something about the in the Sunday Star but I can’t find a link ;)
June 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Hello Lee,
You might be reassured to learn that Jakob Nielsen’s work focuses on the design of e-commerce Web sites. Nielsen and his colleagues believe that people use the Web as a tool to accomplish certain tasks quickly such as finding information or buying something. Nielsen’s thinking about Web design and its impact on editorial content might not apply to you.
You can learn more about Jakob Nielsen’s ideas about the Web in a book called Prioritizing Web Usability (2006). Despite the awkward title, this book is clearly written and informative. Nielsen and Hoa Loranger are the co-authors.