“Books do furnish a room.” A quote from Virginia Woolf's essay A Room of One’s Own. Woolf argues that literature and creative space are the essence of the freedom of expression. While her argument dials more on the gender biases that complicate women's access to education, her words, broadly speaking, foreground what literature offers to anyone willing to pick up a book. But as digital media plays a prominent role in our daily lives, rooms become empty with dust and cobwebs, forsaking the once lived-in spaces. However, the rise of digital media has shifted how text is comprehended, presenting both its opportunities and drawbacks for readers.
We are currently living in the digital age. Most things are done by computer, and large amounts of information are readily available because of computer technology, especially with the rise of remote jobs. During the pandemic, there was an exceptionally high usage of digital platforming. Many schools have shifted to online platforms for students to obtain schoolwork and instruction from their teachers or professors. Examples of this can even be seen post-pandemic, especially in the usage of e-book technology. Research has shown that from 2019 to 2020, OverDrive, a digital distributor of e-books and audiobooks, saw a 33% growth in digital book lending, with an increase from 366 million to 430 million loans, then another jump to 500 million in 2021. Many find online options much more convenient in their day-to-day lives. In addition, classes that rely heavily on textbooks or excerpts of readings have used PDF files or online textbooks to teach the curriculum. However, reading comprehensibility has become an issue for many students in the digital world. It implies what young people refer to today as brain rot.
With online reading becoming more prevalent, students' reading comprehension has declined compared to those who use print books. Ladislao Salmerón, a professor at the University of Valencia, said, “...‘reading mindset’ for digital texts also tends to be more shallow than that for printed materials, with scanning being more common,” he also mentions that the reader “doesn’t fully get immersed in the narration, or doesn’t fully capture the complex relations in an informative text.” With online reading, a lack of hands-on contact inhibits the reader from fully grasping or understanding the text. Digitalization of text can distract students from the idea that they are meant to comprehend a text when the medium is intangible. The lack of comprehension can fall into lines of brain rot, defined by Oxford as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material.” The definition differs from how many young people use it today, such as being “chronically online” or significantly using online vernacular. The overconsumption of material is not what is at stake in online reading, rather the opposite, the deterioration of a person's intellectual state can be seen in online reading. It is not true that online reading is the sole reason behind intellectual decline; however, given that reading comprehension has changed over the years with the use of digital technologies, it can speak to the digital age's negative impacts on the brain.
In addition, with the upcoming use of AI software, it has become harder for students to craft ideas based on original thoughts. The learning cycle is less about being told how to think than what to think. A quote by Aristotle says, “Of the three lives Aristotle speaks of, the life of action, the life of contemplation, and the life of enjoyment, we have the two action and enjoyment, but we lack the other, contemplation..” He speaks to an important point: the need for deep reading, an action that looks to engage critically with the text, whether digital or non-digital. There are ways to counteract these negative impacts by fostering environments that emphasize the importance of reflection and analysis within the education system.
Another way of looking into online reading is considering the digital comic platform, Webtoon, which has had a grip on many audiences. Research has shown that Naver Webtoon, a South Korean online service providing online comics, reported a global user count of 85.6 million as of June 2022. Over the years, the platform has developed global appeal, especially for younger audiences that have admired digital art and its accessibility to the public. A study has examined the impact of this kind of digital “literature” on readers. A journal article from ResearchGate examines how readers' comprehension skills have improved from Webtoons because of the visual cues and engaging narratives it provides. These digital comics connect the reader emotionally with the characters and stories to enhance their engagement with the text. But despite the comic's ability to teach literary points, such as plot and character development, it is not enough to read digital comics to enhance one's comprehension. Otherwise, the reader would be stuck at a specific reading level, considering most webtoons average much smaller and more simplistic sentences—often requiring little to no analysis for the reader to further their critical thinking.
So the question arises: Is digital media preventing us from progressing mentally due to its reduced immersion in the narration? Also, has digital “literature,” such as webtoons, prevented readers from building their comprehension skills entirely? It is likely, but not the sole reason. Without emphasis on reflection and “deep reading,” it is possible that digital media can be harmful to reader interpretation, as with non-digital media. The problem does not stem from the kind of medium but the methods we use to enforce these practices—although one may reap more benefits from reading a physical book than, say, a Webtoon. Any reading is meant to communicate something; its complexity is entirely up to the author. As a society, we must continuously engage with the texts, embracing them to deepen our understanding, which is what any kind of literature is meant to evoke.
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