Even though SNS is a text-based culture, why is 'young people's reading comprehension' declining?

There are several complex factors behind the observation that young people's reading comprehension is declining, despite the fact that SNS is primarily a text-based culture. I will explain this in simple terms.

1. Focus on short, fragmented information

Because SNS makes heavy use of short posts of around 140 to 280 characters, as well as visual elements like stamps and emojis, opportunities to carefully read and interpret entire texts are decreasing. When the style of quickly consuming fragmented information becomes a habit, it becomes difficult to develop the ability to read through long texts and understand their meaning deeply.

2. The influence of 'immediacy' and 'reaction-oriented' information

Because SNS emphasizes real-time reactions and gaining 'likes,' emotional and fragmented posts are increasing, and instant empathy or simple interpretation tend to be prioritized over deep thinking or complex text comprehension. As a result, the habit of reading while thinking carefully fades away.

3. Diversification of multimedia and distraction of attention

In an environment surrounded by diverse media such as videos, images, and audio, where there is a lot of visual and auditory information, it is difficult to train the ability to concentrate and understand text alone. Consequently, the attention and concentration required for reading comprehension are prone to decline.

4. Changes in education and reading habits

In school education and home environments, opportunities for long-form reading and deep reading tend to decrease, which also has an impact. The short-text culture of SNS is a factor that further accelerates this change.

Summary

SNS is certainly a text-based culture, but its characteristics (short sentences, immediacy, and a mix of multiple media) tend to keep understanding fragmented and hinder the development of deep reading comprehension, rather than enhancing it.

You are absolutely right; the ability to give meaning to short sentences and read intentions from them is something that should never be underestimated.

1. The importance of the ability to communicate in short sentences

In an environment like SNS, one must accurately express one's thoughts and feelings within a limited number of characters or short phrases, requiring the technique of carefully selecting words to convey meaning. This is a type of advanced linguistic ability and is a very valuable skill in modern society.

2. The reader's interpretive ability is also important

Furthermore, the ability to read the other person's intentions, emotions, and background from short sentences is also a type of advanced reading comprehension. It requires the ability to understand not just the literal meaning, but also the context and nuances.

3. The difficulty of balance

However, on the other hand, getting used to only short sentences and fragmented information makes it difficult to develop the ability to carefully read through complex and long texts is also an aspect. In other words, the ability to express and comprehend short sentences and the ability to deeply understand long texts are different skills, and it is ideal to cultivate both in a balanced manner.

Summary

The ability to pack meaning into short sentences and read intentions from them is an extremely important and excellent skill in today's information society. However, at the same time, I understand that the ability to deeply understand complex texts and multi-layered information is also widely required as a working adult.

The phenomenon of university students not being able to read or understand manga correctly may involve several complex issues, not just a simple 'decline in reading comprehension'.

1. Unique skills are required for reading manga

Manga requires not only text but also the ability to simultaneously decipher visual information and text information such as pictures, panel layouts, placement of dialogue, and subtle nuances of expressions and actions. In other words, it requires a complex understanding that is different from simple text reading comprehension.

2. Differences in culture and experience of 'reading' manga

Also, if you have little experience or familiarity with manga, it can be difficult to accurately grasp the expressions and story developments intended by the author. In particular, if you do not know the background knowledge or the context specific to the genre, your understanding may be shallow.

3. Influence of educational and information environments

Changes in recent education and information environments may also be having an impact, as the habit of 'reading carefully' through complex media like manga is decreasing. As people become accustomed to speed reading and fragmented information processing, the ability to carefully grasp the overall picture of a story may be weakening.

4. Summary

In other words, the fact that university students cannot read manga correctly is not limited to a simple decline in 'text reading comprehension', but can be considered a problem where multiple factors are intertwined, such as: ・Lack of integrated understanding of visual information and text ・Lack of experience in understanding manga culture and expressions ・Changes in reading habits due to changes in education and information environments

as mentioned above.

The guidance in educational settings to 'read printed text' may actually be stripping away the original joy and fun of reading—this concern is indeed a problem being discussed among many educators and cultural figures.

1. Reading guidance as 'printed text worship'

In school education, under the values that often equate 'printed text = intelligence' and 'reading = cultivation,' there is a tendency to recommend reading experiences that are biased toward a certain form (sometimes classical literature or rigid writing). As a result, it becomes reading that one is 'made to do' or 'evaluated on,' and the sense of freely enjoying books can become diluted.

2. Sense of duty over curiosity

Experiences such as 'being made to write a book report,' 'it will be on the test,' or 'if I don't read this book, my grade will drop' carry the risk of making the act of reading itself perceived as 'a task,' 'a duty,' or 'stress'. It is very unfortunate that reading, which should inherently have the joy of immersing oneself in the world of a story and the pleasure of letting one's thoughts wander freely, becomes merely a part of processing assignments.

3. Reading experiences should be diverse

The gateway to reading should originally be much freer. Whether it's from manga, light novels, or picture books, the experience of 'being moved' or 'thinking it's interesting' is more important than anything else. Along the extension of that enjoyment, a world of deeper printed text and more difficult reading experiences may naturally sprout.

4. What is the role of education?

The essence of education is not to 'pluck the buds of curiosity,' but to nurture those buds. Therefore, I sincerely believe that the guidance to 'read printed text' must not be something that crushes an individual's personality or sensibility.

Summary

As you say, the compulsion of reading printed text carries the danger of robbing one of the pure joy of reading is an issue that modern educational settings must seriously face. It is a perspective that must be cherished precisely because it leads not just to the development of reading comprehension, but to nurturing a sensibility that loves words and expands the world.

An excessive obsession with 'foreshadowing recovery,' and anxiety or rejection toward the fact that a clear conclusion or answer is not presented—it is thought that these tendencies are certainly not unrelated to the SNS-like information environment.

I will organize this from several perspectives below.

1. SNS-like thinking: Clarification of answers and immediacy

On social media, a culture of conveying things 'concisely' and 'immediately' is dominant. Because of this,

• the 'correct answer' to a story,

• 'full resolution of foreshadowing',

• and 'a neat ending'
  have become increasingly sought after, and it seems that the sensibility to enjoy the margins and ambiguity in a story is receding.

Also, works that become topics on social media tend to have a strong preference for structures suited to analysis and explanation, such as 'The foreshadowing in XX is amazing!' or 'Everything connected!'

2. The reception of works has become 'premised on sharing'

The act of enjoying a work is now almost a set with 'sharing impressions' and 'discussing interpretations'. Therefore, works with too much room for interpretation or intentionally ambiguous endings may become harder to accept because people feel
'I don't know how to talk about this'
or
'it's hard to share'.

3. Cognitive characteristics and the temperament of the times

This is from a psychological perspective, but a strong obsession with 'clarity' and 'consistency' also overlaps with the tendency to seek peace of mind and order in today's stressful society. It is thought that stories that converge clearly are linked to the demand for things that are 'refreshing,' 'convincing,' and 'not confusing'—in other words, things that provide a sense of security.

4. The transformation of 'stories'

Originally, a story was meant to be 'something that poses questions,' and

• room for interpretation,

• implications and silence,

• and the margins that encourage the reader's imagination

should have been the real thrill. However, in the social media era, the perception of 'story = puzzle' has spread, and
a formalistic appreciation where foreshadowing is expected to be resolved is becoming widespread.

In lieu of a conclusion

As you think, the fading sensibility to accept 'unknowability' and 'lingering resonance,' and the rising desire to 'have everything explained,' can be said to be an influence of social media culture.
That could also lead to narrowing the 'space for the reader's imagination'.

However, as long as there are people who love the essence of stories and can savor the margins, the diversity of expression will not be lost. The gaze that looks deeply at stories is what keeps the light of such culture alive.

That is exactly right. In modern society—especially in spaces like SNS that prioritize immediacy and empathy—there is a tendency for
the goal to become 'being empathized with', which results in 'the same answer' that everyone can understand instantly being preferred and converged upon.

1. An era where empathy becomes 'correctness'

Originally, empathy was 'sharing individual feelings,' not an agreement on an answer. However, now that the trend of 'opinion that is empathized with = good opinion' and 'opinion that is not empathized with = off-base or bad' is spreading, there is pressure to
'adjust' one's own thoughts and expressions so that they are easily empathized with.

2. Speed and ease of understanding are prioritized over the breadth of interpretation

・Expressions that include blank space
・Ambiguous descriptions with deep implications
・An attitude of intentionally not stating things definitively

Such delicate words and structures are difficult to gather empathy for, and there is a risk that they will be judged as 'hard to understand'. As a result,
compositions, messages, and emotions that anyone can understand are easily considered 'safe' and 'desirable'.

3. A society where 'room for imagination' is excluded

In the current society, there is a tendency to not wait, not imagine, and not look things up for things that cannot be reacted to instantly or things that must be chewed over after taking a breath. This leads to a climate where works and words that test 'the blank space of expression' or 'the receiver's ability to interpret' are shunned.

4. What is true empathy?

Originally, empathy is the power to think about the experiences and feelings of others, and it should not just be about 'having the exact same thoughts' or 'understanding instantly,' but rather 'not understanding but trying to imagine' or 'trying to accept something even if it is different from oneself'—such an attitude should be the richest and most mature form of empathy.

In closing

Because empathy is prioritized too much, we may be forgetting how to imagine, how to try to understand, and how to love the blank spaces.

It is precisely because we are in such an era that the attitude of questioning and thinking deeply is very precious.

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