Be honest. When was the last time you read an entire article without skipping ahead or getting distracted?
If you’re having trouble remembering, you’re probably not alone. We’re constantly being told that the internet is ruining our attention spans, and considering how used to short-form content we’ve become, it’s not hard to see why. We’ve gotten so accustomed to taking in information quickly that skimming through longer articles almost feels natural. But I think we’re too quick to assume that’s necessarily a bad thing.
Think about how much information we come across every day, even when we’re not looking for it. Between news articles, social media posts, and advertisements, there’s simply too much out there for us to give everything the same amount of attention. So why do we treat skimming like it’s a problem? Why is there an expectation that every piece of information deserves our full attention? In reality, the majority of the content available online is irrelevant to most people. When you look at it that way, skimming doesn’t seem so bad.
This idea of being selective with our attention also came up while I was reading about our online habits. We tend to scan for whatever seems relevant rather than reading every word. And truthfully, why wouldn’t we? If we’re only looking for a specific answer, there’s no reason we should have to read an entire article to find it.
But I also started thinking about how easily that habit carries over into things we actually want to understand. I’ve definitely gotten to the end of an article and realized I could barely explain what I just read. I was so focused on getting through it that I hadn’t really taken the time to understand it. That’s where I think skimming can become a problem.
Still, I don’t think we need to change the way we read everything online. Being able to find information quickly is useful, especially when we’re constantly surrounded by more content than we could ever realistically read. The important thing is recognizing when something deserves more than a quick glance.
Sometimes, there’s a lot more worth reading beyond the first few lines.
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