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Articles - November - 2025 Issue

Are you reading the long form?

- by Bruce E. McKinney

Are you reading the long form?

 

We are in the middle of an undeclared war.

 

We know that print was financially unhealthy. The Internet has been killing off newspapers. Books are resisting the onslaught. We grew up in a world that accepted reporters, writers and editors were choosing what we could see. If you wanted a broader perspective, you subscribed for a second newspaper or watched several television channels. The Internet has turned every person with a phone into a reporter, turning media into interpreters. Now the channels get their news from the Internet.

 

In place of trusted media and their experienced reporters, influencers attract immense audiences inevitably relying on intense emotion. Moderation loses you audience. Those who most effectively stoke emotion attract the largest audiences they can monetize. The line between responsible and effective becomes unclear. Negative emotions, resentments, prejudice win audiences. We all lose because of this.

 

The Internet has become our enemy. Please limit your access to it.

 

Reading has become a forgotten skill. Choose a few books from your shelves. When you read, preferably in the long form (books), the crap and nonsense lose its urgency.

 

The Internet is damaging us.  Read.

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Posted On: 2025-11-01 02:55
User Name: colophon2

A recent discovery revealed that the internet and electronic devices require a different set of reading skills, and consequently, we may be loosing the ability to read the printed page. Those who read the written or printed page may notice a diminished speed, as well as, comprehension, ie. cognitive abilities. What we lose by each successive gain might, also, be an historical reflection of what is yet to come.

Posted On: 2025-11-01 16:49
User Name: kenm

I agree but can't help noticing some irony in the fact that I am reading it on the internet.

Posted On: 2025-11-01 17:09
User Name: kenm

While I agree, like most things it is complicated. I have an interest in wordless novels and have a non-profit bibliographic site devoted to them. It is non-profit in most part due to the reality very few people have any interest in the genre.
Over a decade ago a noted academic brought out a book on the same topic that was remaindered. The reality is that no printed book can be better than my website - I can instantly update it, modify it if in error, and add so many more images than a printed book could cost justify.
By providing the information for free I realize I am undermining the concept of writers being entitled to be reimbursed for their work - a concept I fully endorse. Life is complicated.

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