Young travellers swap books for phones
14 August 2015 08:54
Young Brits are ditching books in favour of phones on holiday
A book is no longer the main companion of choice for young people sunning themselves on holiday, research reveals.
Three quarters of Britons aged 18 to 25 take their mobile phone to the poolside or beach, uploading pictures to social media sites and chatting with friends back home.
Only a quarter now take a book, according to the survey of 1,500 young holidaymakers.
Usage trends
The study, which is part of Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge's Summer Speed Reads initiative, suggests young people are unable to switch off from the world of social media.
Typically, 18 to 25 year-olds check their phones 14 times a day on holiday.
Some 24% of those polled believe books take too long to read, while 26% claim books are too heavy or take up valuable packing space.
As many as 10% of young people have never even read a novel, plus 72% prefer short form writing and agree they have shorter attention spans due to the vast array of modern technology at their disposal.
Devices like mobile phones can be expensive, so travel insurance is a necessity just in case they go wandering.
Twitter generation
In light of the findings, John Sutherland, professor of modern English literature at University College London, has condensed 25 of the most popular beach novels into 140 characters for the Twitter generation.
Fifty Shades Of Grey and The Da Vinci Code are among the stories shrunk to tweet-sized summaries.
Prof Sutherland believes short versions of novels will become the norm in the future.
He says people, particularly the younger generation, are increasingly seeking instant gratification while multi-tasking.
This applies to holidaymakers, not content with just watching the world go by when sitting poolside or on the beach.
But the academic hopes the 25 shortened beach novels will inspire some people to pick up an old-fashioned book.