How Scrolling Can Help Your Reading

I know what you're thinking—it's obvious that reading a book at night is better than scrolling through your phone. But what all the book gurus fail to point out is that reading and scrolling are more related than you think. In this post, I'll explain how scrolling can actually help your reading—but only if done the right way.

Scrolling feels easy, it's low-effort entertainment. Platforms show endless content curated specifically for you, and if you don't like what you see, a quick flick of the fingers shows you something else. Social media is addictive, the way that nicotine keeps cigarette smokers coming back. This is why your brain gets lost in how much time you've spent scrolling, and before you know it, you've been on Instagram for two hours.

Reading, on the other hand, requires more concentration. It can feel intimidating to keep your brain on, engaging with the text to fully comprehend what you're reading and how it fits in with the general story. People tend to feel bad about starting a book and not finishing, so why begin in the first place? The sheer attention span required for reading deters people from picking up a book, and each page can feel like a chore to get through, especially without a visual stimulus.

So how do you go from scrolling to reading?

I don't use social media, yet I still find myself scrolling. How does this happen? One word: news.

A lot of news is free. Whether it's reports on current events, opinion pieces on the state of the economy, or analysis of prominent factors affecting social dynamics, I'm constanly reading the news. Several news apps aggregate free articles from all across the world , spanning a variety of topics. Like social media, they revolve around what you've shown interest in and read before. But unlike social media, their content is more active than it is passive—you, the reader, must click into every piece that you want to read, whereas for social media apps, the content is right there for you (i.e. videos). And you can only read so much in a short period of time, since it takes more effort to digest than a video does to absorb.

This isn't to say preach reading about current events. It is to say, however, that you can use news apps similar to how you use social media. Follow topics that interest you. Read pieces with catchy headlines. But most importantly, take control of what you're consuming by clicking only on what you want to read. This will teach the algorithm your preferences, ultimately showing more content that you will enjoy. And when you achieve control of what you're reading without actively finding it for yourself, it begins to feel low effort.

A break on your phone can turn into reading news stories or opinion pieces that interest you. That's great, but how does it help your reading?

Vocabulary: Articles will introduce new words into your vernacular. Seeing these words repeatdely across different pages will force you to commit them to memory. Authors often use these same higher-level words to convey specific emotions and add layers of human depth to their characters. Since you'll know these words and how they're used in context, you'll gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the text.

Learning: News can teach you a variety of things, whether it's something happening in a part of the world you're not familiar with, a trend you'd like to learn more about, or a point of view that you've never considered. Learning raises the thirst for knowledge, the desire to delve deeper into a subject for the best understanding you can have. This will help you seek out books that focus on topics which you find yourself drawn to.

Attention Span: Articles are longer than social media posts, so they require more concentration to comprehend. As you consume more articles, you will exercise those skills over time such that your attention span increases. You know you've broken your social media addiction when you make it through your first eleven-minute opinion piece with no pictures.

Reading: Must I say it—reading the news is literally reading! You're practicing the very skill that you want to develop, and it translates to the books since you're simply moving from one medium of reading to another.

I've convinced you that scrolling through news can get your reading muscles primed for books. How do you get started?

Follow news pages on social media. Reuters, BBC, and NPR are great places to start. They post frequently and share links to free articles that cover a myriad of topics from around the globe. Try to scroll past the videos to their written content, but if you need to start with videos, gradually work your way up from shorter to longer clips. This way your attention span still increases, and perhaps it can provide a gateway into audio books if paper isn't your thing.

If you'd like to jump right into news apps, I recommend Google News. It aggregates free and paid sources in one place and has separate page for different topics such as sports, entertainment, business, and politics. There's also a For You section with articles it thinks you'll like; chances are the algorithm will improve with time.

From there, use articles of interest to find your next read. Enjoying news from a specific part of the world? Read about that region, especially if the author is from there. Drawn to a particular topic? There's probably a book about it. If you're not sure how to narrow your search, I'll have a future post about using A.I. for reading recommendations. But for now, email me at shayzutshi@gmail.com, and I'll give you personalized recommendations based on what you're interested in.

You're already off to a great start by finishing this post. Now get out there and read the news!