By Lilian H. Hill
The way humans read—the modality of reading—has evolved dramatically throughout history, reflecting broader cultural and technological transformations. In ancient and early societies, reading was primarily oral and communal. Literacy was limited to a small elite, and texts often functioned as scripts for performance or worship rather than objects of private study. Reading was typically done aloud, sometimes even when alone, because the act of decoding text was closely tied to sound and speech. This oral modality made reading a social experience that reinforced collective memory and shared meaning (Ong, 1982).
By the late Middle Ages and into the early modern period, reading gradually became a silent and private activity. The spread of manuscripts and, more significantly, the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century transformed how people accessed and engaged with written material. Books became more affordable and abundant, enabling individuals to own and read texts independently. Silent reading encouraged introspection, critical thinking, and personal interpretation. This shift also marked an important cultural change: reading was no longer about communal storytelling or religious devotion but now included individual reflection, education, and intellectual growth (Manuel, 1996).
During the 18th to 20th centuries, the print era reached its height. Reading became a linear and sustained process, often tied to formal education and civic participation. Novels, newspapers, and textbooks structured reading as a disciplined, sequential activity, one that required focus, comprehension, and extended attention. Print literacy was viewed as essential for participation in democratic societies and for personal advancement (Chartier, 1994). Readers were expected to move from the beginning to the end of a text, building a logical, cumulative understanding. This period solidified reading as a cornerstone of modern life and identity.
Text Interaction
Another way to think about reading modalities is to consider how we interact with text (Bodayle, 2025). In this mode, there are five different modalities of reading:
- Wandering: Aimlessly reading, jumping from topic to topic.
- Searching: Reading to discover specific information.
- Skimming: Reading quickly to make a general assessment.
- Reading to Finish: Reading a book from cover to cover.
- Deep Diving: Immersing yourself in a book, trying to understand every tiny detail.
These five reading styles do not have sharp boundaries. Each reading style has its own utility and being a good reader means being able to shift between them freely. We frequently engage in multiple modalities simultaneously. Each modality has its merits and its problems. What is important is not to avoid one kind of reading in favor of the better kind of reading, but to be able to shift between these styles of reading comfortably. As our ways of interacting with text continue to evolve, the rise of digital platforms introduces new dimensions to how and why we read.
Digital Reading
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the emergence of digital technologies shifted the modality of reading toward multimodality, interactivity, and nonlinearity. Digital platforms blend text, images, sound, and video, creating new ways to construct and interpret meaning (Kress, 2003). Online reading involves scrolling, clicking, linking, and navigating through multiple layers of information rather than following a single, fixed path. Compared to deep reading text interactions, these actions are like wandering, searching, and skimming. The reader becomes not just a consumer but also a participant by commenting, sharing, and creating content in return. This marks a partial return to the social dimension of early oral reading but within a networked, global context (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011).
The consequences of digital reading are complex and multifaceted. On the one hand, digital modalities have expanded access to information and literacy. Readers across the world can instantly access vast amounts of content, connect across languages and cultures, and participate in collaborative knowledge-making. Digital tools also support diverse learning styles, offering text-to-speech, interactive media, and adaptive reading environments that enhance accessibility and engagement (Leu et al., 2015).
On the other hand, researchers have noted several cognitive and behavioral consequences of digital reading. Because digital texts often encourage multitasking and rapid scanning, readers may experience reduced attention spans and decreased depth of comprehension (Wolf, 2018). The ease of hyperlinking and scrolling fosters fragmented, nonlinear reading habits, which can make it more difficult to build sustained arguments or engage deeply with complex ideas (Baron, 2021). The physicality of print, the tactile sense of progress through pages, and the spatial memory of where information appears also contribute to comprehension, and these cues are often lost in digital environments (Mangen et al., 2013). Moreover, digital reading environments can blur the boundaries between reading for information and reading for entertainment, changing how individuals approach texts in educational and scholarly contexts (Hayles, 2012).
The acronym “TL;DR” (short for “Too Long; Didn’t Read”) first appeared in internet forums and Usenet newsgroups around 2002, originally used as a dismissive comment for excessively long posts. Over time, it evolved into a practical tool when writers began including a “TL;DR” summary at the beginning or end of their content, offering a quick takeaway for readers. By the 2010s, the term had become mainstream enough to be included in major dictionaries. Its rise reflects a shift in reading habits. Amid increasing information overload, TL;DR helps readers manage their attention efficiently while signaling how digital reading has changed how we engage with text.
At the same time, digital reading has transformed reading into a multisensory and social experience. Through social media, blogs, and online discussion forums, reading is once again a shared act, echoing the communal nature of early oral traditions. Audiobooks and voice interfaces, such as podcasts and smart assistants, reintroduce listening as a primary mode of engagement, bridging ancient oral culture and modern digital life (Wolf, 2018). Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual or augmented reality are creating even more immersive and personalized reading experiences, suggesting that reading’s next evolution will be both adaptive and interactive.
Conclusion
In summary, reading has moved from oral and communal to silent and individual, then to digital and participatory. This dynamic is portrayed in Figure 1. Each shift reflects not only technological innovation but also a deeper change in how humans think, learn, and connect. The digital age has expanded the meaning of reading. Still, it challenges educators, researchers, and readers alike to cultivate new forms of focus, discernment, and critical literacy in an increasingly multimodal world.
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Figure 1: Changes in Reading Modalities Over Time |
References
Baron, N. S. (2021). How we read now: Strategic choices for print, screen, and audio. Oxford University Press.
Bodayle, C. (2025, January 2). Five modalities of reading. The Rational Kernel. https://colinbodayle.substack.com/p/five-modalities-of-reading
Chartier, R. (1994). The order of books: Readers, authors, and libraries in Europe between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries (L. G. Cochrane, Trans.). Stanford University Press.
Hayles, N. K. (2012). How we think: Digital media and contemporary technogenesis. University of Chicago Press.
Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. Routledge.
Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New literacies: Everyday practices and social learning (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Leu, D. J., Forzani, E., Rhoads, C., Maykel, C., Kennedy, C., & Timbrell, N. (2015). The new literacies of online research and comprehension: Rethinking the reading achievement gap. Reading Research Quarterly, 50(1), 37–59. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.85
Mangen, A., Walgermo, B. R., & Brønnick, K. (2013). Reading linear texts on paper versus computer screen: Effects on reading comprehension. International Journal of Educational Research, 58, 61–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2012.12.002
Manguel, A. (1996). A history of reading. Viking.
Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. Methuen.
Wolf, M. (2018). Reader, come home: The reading brain in a digital world. HarperCollins.
