E-Readers To Blame For An Increase In Adult “Shame Reading”

E-Readers To Blame For An Increase In Adult “Shame Reading”

We’ve heard of hate-reading — the kind of reading you do out of disgust or loathing or contempt for the author. Now, it seems that a new type of reading style has emerged: call it “shame-reading”.

In a poll cited by The Daily Mail, 34 per cent of a test group of 1863 British subjects admitted to having used their e-reading devices to read erotic novels. And 57 per cent of the same group of adults said they had used theirs to hide the fact that they were reading young adult literature, like Harry Potter, and 28 per cent to disguise their sci-fi book habit. Overall, 58 per cent of respondents said they use their e-readers specifically to “hide” what they are reading.

These same adults filled nearly three-quarters of their bookshelves with autobiographies, political memoirs and other non-fiction; on their e-readers, those genres accounted for just 14 per cent of their reading material.

With so much of our technology working to connect us and allow our private lives exposure, the privacy afforded by the e-reader is an uncommon advantage. (If that’s, you know, what you’re into.) And shame-reading will likely only grow in practice, as authors discover this lucrative sub-market of the ebook industry and cater directly to it. [DailyMail]

Image via preetamrai/Flickr


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