a fun way i trigger my fight or flight is by doomscrolling teacher tiktok. one of the main themes is the decline in (or absence of) reading comprehension among gen alpha. my gen alpha neice (going into 5th grade) provides me with horrifying stories every single time i pick her up from school.
it's a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge problem in the united states, where we no longer prioritize education! enrollment in public schools is down (as is the quality of education provided), kids are terrified of school sh***ings, and terrifying conservative grifters are doing everything in their power to privatize education for personal profit (instead of improving our broken education system). we lost the plot. we are so deep in capitalism in the US that we aren't producing as many "smart people." :(
your reporting on gen z making libraries cool again has stuck with me. i have so much hope for this generation undoing the damage of genx/geny parents "raising" ipad kids. i think you covered an article once where gen z kids w/ gen alpha siblings commented on how unhinged gen A is and provided examples. it was eye opening (another fun doom scroll, do not recommend) but the theme seemed to be "i will do better. ipad kids stops with us."
anywhoooo, i searched "booktok kindle" on tiktok and saw some really cute videos. i (hate overconsumption but) loved seeing the way people were decking out their kindles/e-readers to get themselves excited about reading. let's hope they find their way to a local library next. <3
I also find it untrue because young people love community and spaces to exist as groups, this is why I find everyone my age (I'm 24) in some kind of reading or book club
you know how, like, the quality of tv/cinema is generally thought to be in decline due to AI and quantity over quality? i think that it is fair to be cautious this could happen/is happening in literature.
just because there is an uptick in kindle sales, doesn't nullify the statistically significant research that shows there is a REAL decline in youth reading. i think it is valid to be worried about this trend.
here is a snippet from the substack that made me lol: "The real question is this: Where do these books come from? Is someone out there generating piles of content via A.I. and trying to turn micro-profits by gaming the Kindle marketplace and placing ads? Is Amazon cutting out the author middle man and using A.I. and user data to generate books on its own? What generative models are being used? What kinds of prompts are generating these texts?
I don’t know. I’m not a virgin. As I said, I have a child.
...
(Is Amazon deleting these spammy books as fast as they can be generated? Again, I don’t know. Stop asking me questions for dorks.)"
Kind of immediately rolled my eyes at the piercing parlor piece… The high-end places with the aesthetic she focuses on might be more recent, but it’s laughable to argue that as recently as 2018 there were no options between Claire’s and the ~seedy~ tattoo parlors she describes. There have been luxury, trendy, clean and professional piercing shops in my small midwestern city for well over a decade now! I can’t imagine that wouldn’t also be the case for NYC and other major cities.
wait that's so interesting! i really don't think there were options here (at least not in my neighborhood) until the studs/rowan proliferation. it was either tattoo parlors or like FANCY $$$ piercing studios. i'm curious if the places in your town sell jewelry too or are strictly piercers?
Also to be clear I don’t think there’s anything factually wrong about the article (I do think Studs/Rowan are distinct from previous options) I just didn’t love the tone of it re: a very well established and highly professional industry!
The shops I’ve been to mainly just sell jewelry for piercings (if that makes sense lol - they’re not like a general jewelry store)! They typically have a pretty wide price range but lean more expensive bc they use high quality metal jewelry.
These shops are def different from the newer, trendier places she’s describing tho! Their aesthetic leans way more towards tattoo-shop-alt than Glossier store lol. I feel like her intro just rubbed me the wrong way because it implies that going to a more traditional shop is scary/dangerous??? The piercing community is (and has for decades been) full of people who are committed to super high standards for quality and safety! Feels weird to shrug off all those more established shops as not “grown up” just because the people who work there are covered in tattoos??? (I def got defensive about this because my girlfriend now works at one of the nicer shops in our area lol!!)
a fun way i trigger my fight or flight is by doomscrolling teacher tiktok. one of the main themes is the decline in (or absence of) reading comprehension among gen alpha. my gen alpha neice (going into 5th grade) provides me with horrifying stories every single time i pick her up from school.
it's a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge problem in the united states, where we no longer prioritize education! enrollment in public schools is down (as is the quality of education provided), kids are terrified of school sh***ings, and terrifying conservative grifters are doing everything in their power to privatize education for personal profit (instead of improving our broken education system). we lost the plot. we are so deep in capitalism in the US that we aren't producing as many "smart people." :(
your reporting on gen z making libraries cool again has stuck with me. i have so much hope for this generation undoing the damage of genx/geny parents "raising" ipad kids. i think you covered an article once where gen z kids w/ gen alpha siblings commented on how unhinged gen A is and provided examples. it was eye opening (another fun doom scroll, do not recommend) but the theme seemed to be "i will do better. ipad kids stops with us."
anywhoooo, i searched "booktok kindle" on tiktok and saw some really cute videos. i (hate overconsumption but) loved seeing the way people were decking out their kindles/e-readers to get themselves excited about reading. let's hope they find their way to a local library next. <3
One more accessory to decorate!
especially intrigued by the Kindle sales spike 👀 everyone says the youth aren’t reading and literature is dying, but that seems…untrue
I also find it untrue because young people love community and spaces to exist as groups, this is why I find everyone my age (I'm 24) in some kind of reading or book club
i saw this substack article called "my kindle thinks i'm stupid" and thought it was really good commentary on AI books: https://maxread.substack.com/p/my-kindle-thinks-im-stupid-now
you know how, like, the quality of tv/cinema is generally thought to be in decline due to AI and quantity over quality? i think that it is fair to be cautious this could happen/is happening in literature.
just because there is an uptick in kindle sales, doesn't nullify the statistically significant research that shows there is a REAL decline in youth reading. i think it is valid to be worried about this trend.
here is a snippet from the substack that made me lol: "The real question is this: Where do these books come from? Is someone out there generating piles of content via A.I. and trying to turn micro-profits by gaming the Kindle marketplace and placing ads? Is Amazon cutting out the author middle man and using A.I. and user data to generate books on its own? What generative models are being used? What kinds of prompts are generating these texts?
I don’t know. I’m not a virgin. As I said, I have a child.
...
(Is Amazon deleting these spammy books as fast as they can be generated? Again, I don’t know. Stop asking me questions for dorks.)"
Kind of immediately rolled my eyes at the piercing parlor piece… The high-end places with the aesthetic she focuses on might be more recent, but it’s laughable to argue that as recently as 2018 there were no options between Claire’s and the ~seedy~ tattoo parlors she describes. There have been luxury, trendy, clean and professional piercing shops in my small midwestern city for well over a decade now! I can’t imagine that wouldn’t also be the case for NYC and other major cities.
wait that's so interesting! i really don't think there were options here (at least not in my neighborhood) until the studs/rowan proliferation. it was either tattoo parlors or like FANCY $$$ piercing studios. i'm curious if the places in your town sell jewelry too or are strictly piercers?
Also to be clear I don’t think there’s anything factually wrong about the article (I do think Studs/Rowan are distinct from previous options) I just didn’t love the tone of it re: a very well established and highly professional industry!
The shops I’ve been to mainly just sell jewelry for piercings (if that makes sense lol - they’re not like a general jewelry store)! They typically have a pretty wide price range but lean more expensive bc they use high quality metal jewelry.
These shops are def different from the newer, trendier places she’s describing tho! Their aesthetic leans way more towards tattoo-shop-alt than Glossier store lol. I feel like her intro just rubbed me the wrong way because it implies that going to a more traditional shop is scary/dangerous??? The piercing community is (and has for decades been) full of people who are committed to super high standards for quality and safety! Feels weird to shrug off all those more established shops as not “grown up” just because the people who work there are covered in tattoos??? (I def got defensive about this because my girlfriend now works at one of the nicer shops in our area lol!!)