From Reading to Scrolling: What Are We Losing?

What happens when a few minutes of scrolling become easier than a few pages of reading? For generations, books have been a familiar part of how people spend their free time. Today, a smartphone is often the first thing people reach for when they have a spare moment. A quick check of social media can turn into hours of short videos, posts and notifications. The concern is not that people use social media or phones. It is what happens when scrolling regularly takes the place of activities that require longer periods of attention, such as reading.

When Scrolling Takes Over Spare Time

Scrolling makes it easy to move quickly from one piece of content to another. A video ends, another begins, and there is always something new to see. This makes social media an easy way to fill small gaps in the day.

Reading requires a different kind of engagement. Whether it is a novel, article or research paper, readers have to stay with the same material for longer. They need to follow ideas, remember information, and continue even when the content becomes difficult or less immediately entertaining.

A 2024 EEG study involving 48 adults found that a stronger tendency toward short-form video addiction was associated with lower self-control and weaker measures of executive control. The findings do not prove that short-form videos cause these changes, but they suggest that the relationship between excessive short-form video use and attention deserves further research.

What Happens to Sustained Attention?

One thing we may lose when scrolling regularly replaces reading is the ability to stay with one idea for an extended period. A short video can communicate information within seconds. Reading often requires more patience. A paragraph may need to be read twice, a complicated argument may take several pages to understand, and a novel may require readers to remember details from earlier chapters.

This ability to maintain attention also matters in education. PISA 2022 data from the OECD found that 30% of students reported being distracted by digital devices in mathematics lessons. The issue is not that using a phone is always distracting. Rather, constant access to digital content can make it easier to shift attention when a task becomes demanding.

What Do We Lose When We Avoid Difficult Reading?

Reading does not always provide immediate rewards. A difficult article, unfamiliar subject or long chapter may require effort before it becomes interesting. That effort can be valuable. Reading exposes people to new vocabulary, different viewpoints, and more developed arguments. It also requires readers to connect information and follow ideas instead of moving immediately to something new.

The OECD has reported that students who are more engaged in reading activities tend to be more effective learners and perform better in reading. This does not mean that reading automatically makes someone a better student. Many factors influence academic performance. However, regularly replacing longer texts with quick, fragmented content may give people fewer opportunities to practice sustained mental effort.

It Is Not About Books Versus Screens

The issue is not that screens have replaced books. A screen can also be a reading device. People read ebooks, news articles, research papers, digital magazines, and educational material on their phones every day. Research by the National Literacy Trust shows that print and digital reading can coexist rather than simply replacing one another.

The more important difference is how we use our attention. Someone can spend an hour reading a digital book on a phone, while someone else can spend the same hour moving through dozens of short videos. The device is the same, but the experience is very different.

Making Room for Reading

The answer is not to give up social media or avoid digital entertainment. It is to make sure that scrolling does not take over every spare moment. A reading habit can begin with just a few quiet minutes each day. Choosing a book, article or other material that genuinely interests you can make it easier to stay engaged. Putting the phone aside for a short period can also create uninterrupted time for reading. The goal is not to eliminate scrolling. It is to maintain a balance in which quick entertainment does not completely replace activities that require us to slow down and think.

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