Reading vs. 'brainrot'

A viral argument on X is pitting books against “brainrot” scrolling, but the data behind the fight point to a split reality: Americans still read books, while reading for pleasure and sustained attention have both weakened. (pewresearch.org) Pew Research Center said 75% of United States adults read at least part of one book in the previous 12 months in an October 6-16, 2025 survey of 8,046 adults. Print remained the dominant format at 64%, while 31% read an electronic book and 26% listened to an audiobook. (pewresearch.org) At the same time, federal and academic measures show less leisure reading. The National Endowment for the Arts said 48.5% of adults reported reading at least one book for pleasure in 2022, down from 52.7% in 2017 and 54.6% in 2012. (arts.gov) Among children, the drop is sharper. The National Endowment for the Arts, citing National Center for Education Statistics data, said 14% of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun “almost every day” in 2023, down from 17% in 2020 and 27% in 2012. (arts.gov) Time-use data show the same gap in daily habits. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences said 14.6% of Americans age 15 and older read more than 20 minutes a day for personal interest in 2023, down from 22.3% in 2003, while about 79% spent more than 20 minutes a day watching shows, gaming, or using computers for personal interest. (amacad.org) That imbalance is widest among younger people. In 2023, only 9.5% of people ages 15 to 24 read more than 20 minutes a day for pleasure, while almost 80% in that age group spent more than 20 minutes a day on screen-based leisure activity, according to the academy’s Humanities Indicators project. (amacad.org) The social-media thread is also colliding with a messier research record than either side usually admits. A 2025 paper in *New Media & Society* found a link between heavier short-video use, short-video addiction, and lower attention control, but the authors said the cross-sectional design could not prove cause and effect. (sciencedirect.com) More controlled studies point to a narrower claim: rapid short-video viewing can disrupt focus in the moment. San Diego State University said a 2025 eye-tracking study found that even a few minutes on TikTok before reading long-form news impaired concentration among college students. (sdsu.edu) Claims that books build empathy also have evidence behind them, though not as a universal rule. A 2013 experimental study in *PLoS One* found that fiction increased empathy over one week only when readers became deeply absorbed in the story. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) For children, the strongest recent synthesis found a limited effect rather than a blanket one. A 2025 meta-analysis of 21 studies covering 2,293 children ages 2 to 10 found storybook reading improved empathy overall, but the statistically significant effect held specifically for prosocial skills. (tandfonline.com) So the online fight is flattening two different trends into one slogan. Books have not disappeared from American life, but the habits tied to long, uninterrupted reading are showing up less often in surveys, classrooms, and time-use diaries. (pewresearch.org, arts.gov, amacad.org)