Reading a text on a screen is different compared to reading it printed on paper. But how do they differ?

Young people generally prefer printed texts to electronic ones…

For several years there’s been an ongoing debate about reading habits. With globalization fueling the digitalization of most businesses, the time spent reading has largely shifted to screens. Does this mean printed texts are soon to be obsolete? By no means! We first have to define what we mean referring to reading. If emails, Social Media, and apps count towards that definition.

There Is Still No Getting Around Printed Texts and That Is a Good Thing

But why do people actually prefer printed texts? A book, for instance, is larger, heavier, and harder to grasp than an e-book reader. On top of that, it’s almost impossible to read without sufficient lighting. With all these disadvantages in mind, why would we put ourselves through reading “analog” books and mostly refrain from reading their digital counterparts?A long text that requires more careful reading is widely preferred to the electronic one. Especially among school and college students who often have to take notes, they rather have the text printed on paper even if the same text is available digitally with a note-taking option.

Paper and Screens Serve Different Purposes

In reality, there is only very slight competition between printed and digital texts since both satisfy different needs. For reading longer, more complicated texts, printing on paper is the way to go, but for shorter texts, like articles or Social Media posts, digital seems to be in a favorable position.