Researching Readers Online
Bronwen Thomas and Julia Round
Bournemouth University
www.researchingreadersonline.com
AHRC Research Development Award under the
Digital Transformations Theme (FEB- JULY 2012)
Research question: What impact is digitisation having
on reading?
• New devices and ease of migrating between them
– ereaders, tablets, smartphones etc
• Access to other readers (and writers) through online
forums and discussion groups
What can we learn from this as teachers of literature?
• Data available on take up of new devices
• Online forums – discussions are archived, threads
and themes are highlighted
• Access to wide range of readers
METHODS
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Online survey of readers
Participant observation of online forums
Focus groups
Interviews
Workshop with academics working with ‘offline’
readers
Findings
Online survey
Who?
• 250 participants
• Ages ranged from 16-82
• Mainly professionals, many retirees
• Women outnumbered men
Why?
• To share ideas and gain new insights
• To meet other people
• Ability to formulate opinions in writing
• Informality and anonymity of forums
How?
• Print still gold standard for many
• Laptops and desktops used more than ereaders or
tablets
• Digital devices used more for some genres
Focus Group 1: Students
Aged 18-30, 5 male, 5 female
Use of online sites and digital devices to consume literature
and other texts
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Ownership predominantly of laptops; none owned an ereader
Romanticist idea of reading: immersive, solitary
Academic reading online versus recreational reading offline
Desire for transmediality rather than duplication when digitising lit
Use of online sites and digital devices to comment on
literature and other texts
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Only half had used forums, although others blogged etc
Mixed experiences on forums: confidence-building; anonymity versus
stereotyping; mistrust; hierarchical; encouraging closed-mindedness
Online/simultaneous comment: indicates disengagement; prevents
holistic enjoyment of book
Focus Group 2: Professionals and
book club members
Aged 30-70, 5 male, 3 female
The future of reading and the impact of digital devices
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Only one person owned an ereader
Disagreement: YP read less, or read ‘different stuff’?
Need for print books to be ‘complementary’ to other media
Hostile reaction to kindle changed during course of discussion
Market dominance concerns
Acknowledgement of romantic image of bookshop
Questions of format and delivery key
Activities surrounding reading both online and offline
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Only one person had participated in online forums
Online forums were perceived as ‘sinister’ and threatening by the book club
members
Intimidation, lack of sincerity, lack of intimacy, lack of energy
Cultural capital of different sites
Professionals were more open to their possibilities
Workshop
Participants represented different approaches and
methodologies including automated data analysis,
historical studies, stylistic analysis and discourse
analysis
Main discussion points:
• Issues of methodology and terminology: e.g. reader as selfselecting category; online groups as interpretive communities;
the position of the researcher; the categorisation of readers
• The extent to which anything is ‘transformed’: are ideas about
the social practice of reading and intimacy/the material form
of literature actually reconceptualised online?
• Links between devices and content
• Concept of ownership
• Similarities between on and offline groups
Future Directions
• Preference for longitudinal, qualitative methods e.g.
following the journey of individual readers via blogs,
ongoing interviews etc
• Context and dynamics of online discussions crucial
• User-generated perceptions of what is considered
insightful in reading and interpretation of literature
preferable to researchers imposing criteria