Reading Habits in the Era of Digitization and Persuasive Technology: Analyzing Contemporary Readers of Different Age-groups from Indian Perspectives

Abstract

Reading widens knowledge and offers a wide range of cognitive, emotional, and social benefits to human intellect. An exciting reading depends on the availability of authentic reading materials and the clarity of purpose. Many readers treat increasing popularity and easy access to digital resources as a threat to Reading. The paper examines how readers of different ages perceive and practice the skill of reading in the digital era. To conduct this research, viewpoints of 117 participants were collected using questions. The subjects of the study were research scholars, teaching professionals, job aspirants, and other government and private-sector job holders. The questionnaire is more of qualitative in nature as considerable, and the design includes a wide range of information related to reading activities. A mixed methodology is used to analyze the responses, understand significant variances in reading habits through pros and cons of emerging technologies, and conclusions were drawn. A critical examination of findings suggests that digitized information is more streamlined and easy to access, however, due to various known or unknown reasons, many readers do not prefer it to be a substitute for cultivating a better reading habit with the technical advancements in the teaching and learning process and opens up doors for further research.