I’ve developed a curious reading disorder and I’ve established that I’m not alone. I hardly read in the strictest sense any longer. I’m stretching if I have to read a piece of more than 500 words without getting to the point. I ignore articles that have vague headlines. Ninety percent of my knowledge of current events comes from reading just the headline and the first paragraph of a news article. I hardly ever read the end of articles or blog posts, because once I’ve got the info I wanted, I draw my own conclusions and make my own summaries. I used to do this only with online news and blog feeds, but I recently noticed that I’ve started doing it with magazines as well.
Now if you don’t know what an RSS reader is, then you probably scoff at my Millennial silliness. You may even blame the PlayStation and tell me that it’s causing me to develop ADHD. You’ll likely tell me that there’s nothing quite like settling down with your daily newspaper over a cup of coffee before work to get your news. What you don’t yet realise is that in the hour that you spend reading your morning paper, I’ve read at least four local and international newspapers and the latest posts from another 10 to 20 influential industry blogs, and I’m not alone.
Now before you get the impression that I’m pretending to be some kind of wunderkind, let me assure you that what I do is the norm for knowledge workers busying themselves in the knowledge economy. In the world that I inhabit, know-how, expertise and intellectual property are more critical than other economic resources such as land, natural resources or even manpower.
When information becomes the cornerstone of your competitive advantage, then the difference between being competitive and mediocre is your ability to gather and assimilate the high-value information. In the past when your competitors got their news from the same source as you did (likely a daily newspaper or the evening news), you could afford to be complacent, because the value of everyone’s information would then remain the same. The internet changed that because it opened up the world’s information to almost anyone with an internet connection and created information-value differentials. In these exciting and innovative times, you’ll find it very difficult to gather the high-value information consistently if you have only one source of information.
If you haven’t already, get with the programme and start getting your news fix through an RSS reader like Google Reader. When you subscribe to an RSS feed, any new articles or posts are delivered directly your feed reader as they are published by your source. Here are links to a few high-value RSS news feeds for you to subscribe to, to get you started:
And here are a few RSS feeds that just make life more interesting:
I’ve also noticed that my reading habits have become more discerning and ruthless in recent months. I scan the headlines and the opening paragraphs and if I feel the writer is taking to long to make his/her point I quickly skip to the next article.
It’s scary how working in the media affects one’s reading habits. Experience as a sub-editor has taught me to “scan” stories to get the facts and the general angle as quickly as possible, and (annoyingly) I find myself doing this automatically even when just reading news reports or features for leisure. However, I try to read at least one (real) book a week — something I usually find far more satisfying than sitting behind my PC.
Yes, Mr Claasen. But when was the last time you enjoyed the word ENJOY after finishing the reading that you do?
I do what you say here all the time. It’s the nature of our collective 2 seconds attention span. But what about enjoyment?
Enjoyment is something that people used to look forward to.
I fully agree, I have found myself scanning through articles these days. I don’t like it because afterwards I don’t feel confident enough to discuss the issues. So unless a piece is boring I force myself to read through it .
@Riaan
Thank goodness I’m not yet at the point where I skim read through books either. I can still sit quietly and giggle to myself through the volume that is Don Quixote, as I recently did.
@Bonginkosi
I think I classify information as either necessary or leisure/intellectual curiosity. My enjoyment from reading necessary information comes not from the gathering ie. reading, but in being able to synthesize from multiple sources for enhanced comprehension and, ultimately, dissemination.
The beauty of well contructed prose is not yet lost to me in my search for an information fix!
That’s just weird. I’ve been ‘skim’ reading for years, I find when reading a fiction book, I end up simply reading just the actual dialogue and only the rest if I get lost … so it’s definitely an ONLINE affliction! Wonder if there’s a pill I could take ?
Any advice on how I can actually disseminate the info I want without having to scrutinise the entire article (whatever it is I’m reading). I’m doing some research at the moment and the masses of information makes it daunting. I find myself reading an interest piece, with references to “off the topic” items – usually to illustrate a point or make a comparison, then I find myself sucked in, wanting to find out more. Are their courses one can take or does this come with experience? Am I paying too much attention to detail?
@ Leon
This is off-topic, but in my own experience with research (disclaimer: I am not a professional researcher), if you don’t keep a tight reign on your research question and sub-questions (ie. chapters), then you are guaranteed to wander off every time that you find something interesting and only remotely relevant to your research. It’s easy for this to happen when you’re conducting research, because by definition you’re covering new ground in an area that clearly interests you.
If you have your research question well framed and you know what the sub-question is that you’re seeking an answer to as you read through your source materials, then it will be much easier to make progress.
I’m guessing that you’re not conducting research for the purposes of a qualification as you’d typically have an academic supervisor assigned to you that would assist with exactly these kinds of issues. If that’s true, then make your life easier and get hold of a copy of a decent book on research methodology. Exclusive Books might have something, otherwise try Juta or Van Schaik.
If you need some help with developing scanning or speed reading skills, then check out some of Tony Buzan’s work on speed reading.
Isn’t the problem with ‘getting the info but quick’ outside the context of information gathering/editing (such as when subbing)that it resolves itself down to affirmation, i.e. blanket or dedicated speed readers are lost in the job of cultivating their image? Is it not in this case a sickness?
Could it be that while it is an asset in certain environments it is the source of even rank stupidity in others?
Great article! I developed that skill during my PhD research. I was ofetn disappointed to spend alot of time on a paper that eventually didn’t address what i was looking for. I applied the same to general reading and my friends get surprised and how much i can read in a short time. Ofcourse the culture has its disadvantages. Some work requires sifting through the rubble to get to the core. But it todays knowledge world we can’t afford to read from cover to cover, word for word. So, those in online publishing should learn to pack the first paragraph with essentially the gist of the story and leave the details to those who’re interested later. I only buy the sunday times over the weekend because then i’ve time to read. But a word of caution is that it doesn’t work everywhere otherwise we might become people with no substance but bits of everything..
…i’ve subscribe to more than 6 online papers national and international, i read three weekly newspaper(hard copy), one book in two weeks, realy one has to be quiker n train himself to have an incisive mind to be able to finish this…
@ Midafo
Enough comments here have provided affirmation for a different kind of information processing taking place. Given the quality of the comments and the commentators, I think we must stop short of suggesting that the knowledge of “skim readers” are lacking in substance because of the skimming practice or that the purpose of covering as much info as possible in as short a time as possible is primarily to produce snippets for one-upmanship.
The much more important point for me is what George has suggested: online publishing must evolve. I firmly believe that if you can’t make your point in less than 500 words, then you’re not getting to the point quickly enough. I am also guilty of this.
Let me use the press coverage of the recent Australian Open tennis tournament as an example. I didn’t read one single full length article about it. I still know who won the mens (Djokovic) and the womens (Sharapova) sections and can even appreciate that Federer’s defeat at the hands of Djokovic in the semi-final portends a sea change at the top of mens tennis. I can’t tell you what happened during each game, how many sets they played, who said what, who was injured, what new sponsorships deals came of of the wins, etc. but that’s okay by me. I don’t think that makes me dumb, just more discerning about what kind of information I bother with.
Now the industry blog posts that I follow are well suited to me – the writers are accustomed to making their points quickly. When information really matters to me (which the Australian Open tennis doesn’t), I read the entire posts and the writers are kind enough to me to cut the bs and the flowery prose out and make their points succinctly.
@Lee
This is Africa and we should seek African solutions to our ailment:
“Take two veg and call me in the morning”
-Zapiro, in reference to Health Minister, Dr Manto Tshabala-Msimang
There is a difference between knowledge and understanding. It takes one glance to know that George W. Bush is an idiot, but it takes a long time to understand this.
Arguably the Americans are in it up to their necks right now because they do not understand anything. Somehow they have decided it is not necessary.
Yes, verbosity is a crime worthy of death but the rejection of understanding is worthy of eternal perdition. Language you see is a repository of wisdom. So such as poetry entails the long contemplation of simple things.
Cripes man! You have a point here but while I like your forthright assertions and am enjoying the joust and reading you with pleasure, you are sounding like the product of a (n American)business school. The world according to Garp!
So I post in return seeking to understand.
Words upon words!
Do you bargain with your baby over Purity or the brand from China? Why do I ask this question? I don’t know. But I ask it.
@Midafo
I want to propose a new model for developing understanding that involves multiple data points ie. breadth instead of depth. I suppose that it’s almost like a human search engine algorithm. I’ll put together a new post to set it out, so look out for that within the week.
Purity?! Is that what this is all about? You’re right MidaFo, we really need to air the important questions that are vexing our souls:
What is the difference between a budgie?