Reading culture is the
idea of developing the habit and patience
to read. Reading is the only known way to
appreciate literacy and literary works. What do Africans do on the internet?
Reading, chatting or surfing? For chronic
readers, reading just got easier and more
interesting because of the wide range of
materials to obtain information from, but
for the other group there is still room to make it more fun.
Somehow with the invention of the
internet, Africans seem to be reading lesser than they did when it was just
books. Generally speaking there has been
a global concern about the decline in the
reading culture. With the advent of many
social networks, the ironic truth is that
people may still be reading but the worry is the quality and relevance of what they
read.

Just like there are various forms of
engaging pastimes on the internet, so
also are there interesting literary pieces
worth reading but the modern-day youth
would rather choose something in
entertainment news and celebrity gossip probably because they are light weighted.
So What does the internet serve the
most for the African audience? What sort
of materials appeal to them? Do they
really have the patience for reading
literary pieces? Internet use in Africa is largely increasing but just how much has it
promoted Africa’s reading culture? Is it a
matter of language, will Africans read
more if there were more materials written
in native languages? Seems there is quite
a lot to be considered when the issue of reading comes up, orientation is one
(culture), availability of materials,
interests and trend.


The internet actually has the potential of
making the reading habit a lot easier,
trendier maybe. As much as there are
concerns about the quality and
authenticity of the materials on the
internet, there are greater chances that the much internet users there are in
Africa could develop the love and passion
for reading. You know what they say, it
takes constant repetition to make or
break a habit. A chronic reader reads any
and everything, from the pages of a book to the internet to any readable thing on a
billboard or a moving vehicle. Some
people just love reading, it comes
naturally to them but some other persons
might be enticed to do so because of the
trendy euphoria that comes with technology or a matter of necessity. With
the internet, the average African reads
but only out of interest, curiosity perhaps
(though in a very little percentage). In any
case, as the use of internet rises in
Africa. some spend quite a huge amount of time on the internet, busy for
one purpose or the other but not always
reading in actual sense.

Africans have not always been the
reading type. The past literate Africans
embraced it because it was the latest and
newest solution to a successful life;
something you need to do if you wanted to
be as smart and intelligent as the white men. A proof that reading is not in our
culture lies in our pattern of cultural
preservation- participation and
storytelling; that was how we preserved
historical experiences. Africans love
storytelling, perhaps why the African movie industry has boomed beyond
expectation. Even in the social media, if
it’s not in a feel good storytelling pattern,
there are chances that a little percentage
will bother to look at it.

Aside the Egyptian’s Hieroglyphics, I
doubt if there was any other original
African form of writing in Africa till the
contact with the west; that is why till the
coming of the white man, our form of
education was plainly informal. In time our fathers started patronizing the western
education and it really did serve them, it
was then, that sharing of experiences
through writing began in Africa. Reading
and writing became an intellectual trend
and a means for knowledge acquisition and social empowerment/elevation. In
that same way, so many trendy inventions
have come into the modern system,
occupying the time and energy of the
literate community; unfortunately reading
does not seem to have a top place in the list as it used to be.

While some people develop the love for
reading in their homes, some others do so
in school, and some others, just on their
own. Those who still retain the habit
largely lie in the first category. Maybe if
we all saw our fathers read, we all would. Most people only read for the
period that they are in school; because it
is a requisite in formal education. Once
they graduate, it’s a pretty long long
break from books, how much more
reading them. Schools are meant to inculcate the reading culture in students
even long after they leave the institution,
it is supposed to be a habit that will serve
the students for a lifetime and not to be
dumped the minute you assume you have
the freedom not to read. Maybe if we saw the reading culture for the wonder that it
is, reading for leisure will be much more
welcomed in Africa. It is expected that
you should have read a certain amount of
materials in your lifetime. But as said
earlier, not everyone has what it takes to form the habit of reading.

Some prefer movies, some others music,
these are their own ways of obtaining
knowledge. However, it is good to note
that these other means of acquiring
knowledge might not be so much of a rich
source if the harnessing team of the art did not acquire it from somewhere. What
you find in a book is a testament of the
people’s lives and what molds it so. One
great good that the internet has done in
Africa is making certain materials
available for people to read and know. These days you have e-magazines and
newspapers to read, but still know it that
this fact has not in any way made reading
a popular trend in Africa, so here’s the
question, is the internet more equipped
for other encomium forms of pastimes than reading? Most probably, books are
naturally rated more than articles because
it is expected that an extensive research
has gone into the work. Besides, the
proliferation of blogs have jeopardized
professional journalism and literacy itself. E-books are more credible but
sometimes when you find them, they are
not easily affordable or accessible (for
piracy reasons).



Source: www.wap2all.com/2015/11/africas-reading-culture-on-internet.html

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