We scroll a lot these days. Posts, blogs, insta-captions, memes, tweets (yes, I insist), AI-generated news flashes – it’s all “reading”. But… does that really count as reading? And more importantly, does it have the same impact as opening a paper book? Researchers from Valencia dug into it and mapped out the answer with surprising clarity.

For this meta-analysis (Altamura et al., 2023), which I found via Best Evidence in Brief, they examined 40 studies involving a total of almost half a million participants and compared leisure reading on digital media with reading comprehension. The central question: does digital reading provide anything for your text comprehension, or is it mainly a pastime with little effect?

The answer is nuanced, but possibly not what the digital optimist hoped for. Although you may have guessed it already if you’ve been reading my blog digitally for a while. The average relationship between digital leisure reading and text comprehension is small but significantly positive (r = .055). That may sound hopeful, but compare it to the much stronger relationships for traditional reading on paper (often r = .30 or higher), and you know: there is a difference.

What’s even more interesting is that the impact varies greatly by age.

• In primary and early secondary school, digital reading is negatively correlated with reading comprehension.

• Only in later years of secondary or higher education, and among college students, does the relationship reverse and become positive.

Why the difference? The researchers point to the quality of digital texts: they are short, fast, superficial, and often written in informal language. Think: “Haha lol idk ff checken brb.” For young readers who are still building their language and reading base, this is not exactly helpful.

In addition, digital reading environments are often full of distractions, and those who already have difficulty reading are more likely to click away.

But is there no hope for the screen? Yes, there is. Not all digital reading activities are the same. When young people look up information on the screen, read longer e-books, or skim news articles, that’s a different story than scanning apps or endlessly reading TikTok subtitles. The meta-analysis also found that linear, informative digital reading formats are more likely to have a positive effect. In addition, age plays a role. Older students appear to be able to make better use of digital reading, probably because they already have a solid reading foundation and are better at ignoring distractions.

Let children read on a screen, but don’t see it as a full-fledged replacement for traditional reading.
Especially during the primary school years, investing in paper books, rich texts, and dedicated reading time is still the best route to improving reading comprehension. Digital media can be a supplement, but only if it involves texts with content, ​​and without Instagram flashing in the background.

Abstract of the meta-analysis :

Previous research has evidenced a strong positive relationship between leisure print reading habits and reading comprehension across the lifespan. The rapid evolution of new forms of leisure digital reading could modify such a relationship. This meta-analysis extends previous research by analyzing the relationship between leisure digital reading habits and reading comprehension. We analyzed 40 effect sizes using multilevel analysis. Data involved 469,564 participants from studies published between 2000 and 2022. The average effect size reflects a small significant effect on reading comprehension (r = .055), which contrasts with the medium size effects found in the literature related to print reading habits and comprehension. This relationship is significantly moderated by the reader’s educational stage. At early stages (primary and middle school) negative relationships are observed between leisure digital reading and text comprehension, while at later stages (high school and university) the relationship turns positive. We highlight the different contributions that reading modalities and technological contexts have on our reading comprehension, especially across the lifespan. In sum, leisure digital reading does not seem to pay off in terms of reading comprehension, at least, as much as traditional print reading does.