The "screening" versus "reading" debate continues. -- Are you screening or reading this?

The "screening" versus "reading" debate continues. -- Are you screening or reading this?


The "screening" versus "reading" debate continues. -- Are you screening
or reading here?

by Dan E. Bloom

When RushPRnews ran an article the other day
about the casual coining of a
new term to represent the action of reading text on a computer screen,
the reaction from readers around the country was fast and furious.

Some agreed with the article's theme, others didn't. Some liked the
new word that has been proposed, and others said they didn't and that
a new word was not necessary.

http://www.rushprnews.com/2009/02/16/so-you-think-youre-reading-no-dear-youre-screening/

Said reader/screener Liz Hill: "This is very interesting. Words do
come and go in our language all the
time, and usage is what makes them stick. However, I don't think
"screening" is the right context for replacing the word "read." I
didn't "paper" or "book", before did I? I do agree that we do
something a little differently when reading online,
but for me it involves the ability to connect or forward that
information so easily, rather than the way it appears on the (yes... I
have to say it) screen.A word involving links or chains makes more sense to me."

Annette Goldsmith of the College of Information at Florida State
University opined: "It's an interesting idea, but I think this
particular term is confusing. Screening text could have the same
meaning as screening calls, that is, doing a quick initial check to
see if it's something you choose to hear or read, as opposed to simply
reading it online."

Sharon Schneeberger said: "My definition of reading includes making
meaning of text. That definition if reading remains the same
regardless of the genre or format you are using to access the text."

Schneeberger added: "I think retention has to do with my purpose for
reading. Sometimes online I start to read something and by following
the various links end up finding out something far more interesting.
What I read online is usually shorter and is different than reading a
whole book. Sometimes I read a journal article online, but still that
is not like reading a book.
I do not have a Kindle and wonder what reading a book on it is like. I
agree that how we read is changing."

Jeff Hsieh, a college student in California, noted: "Personally, I
prefer reading from a real, solid, hard copy, whether it is books,
news, or anything. The comoputer screen gets my eyes tired."

Kit Stoltz, a reporter based in Los Angeles, noted: "Maybe be the word
will stick, maybe not, but I'll remember it."

Jalel Sager, an editor in Vietnam, said: "The writer in me bridles at
the new word. Frankly, I think 'screening' has too many other closely
related meanings, especially. the one that means "to filter" -- which
is kind of interesting, because that's really that you do when you
read online -- filter information from the online sea."

Jenny Schickley opined: "I don't think the term "screening" to refer
to any print read online is appropriate. I think if you are reading
words it is reading. However, I have noticed the propensity
in myself and my students to skim images and headlines to gather hot
topics or to
attempt to find something more interesting to bother to read in
detail. I would accept the term "screening" to apply to such quick
scanning -- but not to actual
moments when I take the time to read properly."

Anne Moten from Australia said: "I don't know that we can define
reading as something related only to
books, for example, we read maps, and music scores. I think it is more
related to the act than the format."

Allen Bean in London said: "I am wary to qualify or re-name the term
reading -- merely because people are "reading" in different formats."

Waller Hastings of Rutgers University in New Jersey noted: "Before we
get all involved in trying to figure out the "best"
alternative word for ''reading'' on line, maybe we should pause a moment to
determine what it is that we think is so different? "Reading" is, at
minimum, the decoding of text from symbolic representation (the words)
to cognitive concept (the ideas). I read the credits to a movie on the
movie screen, I read the words on traffic signs when I drive the
Interstate, I read text from books, periodicals, and newspapers, I read
things on the Internet. We have used "reading" to refer to the first
three kinds of actions for quite some time - so why do we suddenly need
a new word for the same action applied now to a different interface?"

"As to the idea that we don't fully read text online, well, we don't
always read text in detail in any other situations. I only read movie
credits to identify actors, music, or other details about which I am
curious; I stop reading a road sign when I realize it is not the exit I
am searching for; I skip quickly through a book or a periodical article
if I have only a minimal interest in it, or to quickly pick up the gist.
This latter activity we have traditionally called "skimming." How is
skipping the details in an e-mail any different?"

"I'm all for changing the language to meet new demands, but I frankly
don't see why this is such a demand."

So Dear Reader, what's your take on this new coinage "screening"? Does
it make sense, does it add up, or is it the wrong term for what is
going on online these days? If you have any other words or terms,
you'd like to nominate, please email them in to this blog here.