Matthieu
StacyDo you consider an audiobook "reading"?
#books #reading #poll
Please boost for a wider demographic and feel free to comment with opinions below 🙏
Yes
No
Poll ended at .
Chris Kletsch@dancinyogi voted no, but I have to say I LOVE listening to audio books. But the immersion I get from reading myself is just... something different.
Stevens R MillerI hope no one thinks a "no" vote is some kind of vote against audiobooks. I've certainly enjoyed hearing stories read, both live and via recordings.
I consider it being "read to." When he was young, I read to my son. He wasn't reading. I was.
When I read, the book speaks to me in the voice I give it. When I listen to someone else read, I hear the voice they choose to give.
spitchell@stevensrmiller @dancinyogi when you've listened to [book] and someone asks "have you read [book]?" what do you say?
KatLS@spitchell @stevensrmiller @dancinyogi yes! My brain was fed the book.🧠the sign for “learn” in sign language looks like feeding the brain and I ❤️ that
Juan42
Json Doh@stevensrmiller @dancinyogi But the process is still called reading which makes perfect sense. Thank you! Now I'm confident about my vote.
You didn't need us to give you that confidence, I hope. There are no right or wrong votes when the question begins, "Do you consider..."
@stevensrmiller You're right. It's just a... I knew I considered it as reading but I wasn't sure why. Then you explained it. And now I know.
sticky comics 🚴♀️🚶♀️✍️@dancinyogi I consider it another way to experience literature -- so I'd call it reading
CJ@xiann @dancinyogi I consider reading to be the active consumption of written text, so yes, I consider listening to an audio book to be reading. I don't think of passive listening as reading though. I also think that the senses you use to consume the written word, sight, hearing, touch, are each going to have their own benefits when it comes strengthening someone's cognitive abilities, but no one way is better than the other. Of course, I'm not using an academic interpretation of the act of reading. I think that should be left to academicians and their paprers on cognitive abilities.
Esslar2@dancinyogi Listening to an audiobook is listening to someone reading a book out loud. So, you, the listener, are not reading the book, but you are hearing the book, as it were.
Eivind (like the Terrible) ✨@dancinyogi If you asked me if I've read a book and I've listened to the audio version, I'd definitely answer in the affirmative, but I do not think of the activity of listening to it as reading.
dave@dancinyogi voted no, but not in a gatekeepy way, just because reading is a different experience for me than listening to an audiobook.
skua@dancinyogi
More yes than no IMO.
Though the audiobook is performed.
Performed in a specific way that inevitably collopses the possible readings of the text down to a far small number of interpretations.
And the performance makes it impossible for me to interpret the book as I might have if I'd been reading the text.
A sort of constricted reading of the book.
PickPoppies@dancinyogi Yes. I struggle with anxiety so audiobooks are great for me. I also assume it's easier for visually impaired people to find audiobooks than braille
@PickPoppies @dancinyogi You'd be correct on the blind people thing, although many legally blind people have residual vision and can read large print books. (My partner is fully blind herself, but says that's rarer than legally blind people who can see a little bit).
@LilyoftheRally @dancinyogi Probably still easier to find audio books tho. I'm guessing a large print of one of those brick books must be massive. I went to school with a kid that didn't see much and he had like a projector and scanner so he would scan it and get the words on a screen. This was years ago but it didn't seem easy or fun if you want to read for pleasure
リニクスアヒル@dancinyogi I only say no because my power to imagine grows exponentially when I read vs listening. But that's how I work.
Zazzoo 🇨🇦@dancinyogi I've always been a slow reader, maybe slightly dyslexic but never diagnosed. But as I've aged my eyesight for reading became really bad and I find extended reading gives me a headache so I switched to audiobooks. I refer to it as 'reading' so I said yes here, but it's more than that. I really enjoy the 'radio play' vibe of a good audiobook. Some books are so slickly done and I'm starting to recognise certain book narrators as being massively talented.
Mother Suspiria 
@dancinyogi Yes AND no. It counts as ingesting the book, but it also comes with being influenced by the narrator, their elocution, accents, character work; and any sound effects, soundscapes, music, etc that the audiobook has. So it's a different experience than reading it on the page and making all that up in your head. So, it's still a valid way of taking in the story, but it's subtly different than "reading" it.
Word of Mouth @dancinyogi No. Reading is reading. Words have meanings. An audiobook is someone else reading. The listener is... listening.
I really like audiobooks when I'm driving, but I can't just sit and listen to an audiobook. I find my mind wandering and forget that I'm trying to listen to a story. Unlike when I'm reading, it's not simple to dart my eyes back to the previous paragraph and scan to where my attention drifted.
I really like audiobooks when I'm driving, but I can't just sit and listen to an audiobook. I find my mind wandering and forget that I'm trying to listen to a story. Unlike when I'm reading, it's not simple to dart my eyes back to the previous paragraph and scan to where my attention drifted.
Dan Morgan 
@dancinyogi @alwirtes No more than listening to music is singing.
bck1402@dancinyogi Comparing listening to an audiobook to reading is akin to saying that listening to an audio drama is like watching a play or movie.
At least, it is for me.
Just like listening to an audio adaptation of a comic book isn't the same as actually reading one.
At least, it is for me.
Just like listening to an audio adaptation of a comic book isn't the same as actually reading one.
David Brent 📚@dancinyogi FWIW, #Goodreads and #TheStoryGraph don't differentiate between print, audiobooks, ebooks, etc. If you mark a book as read, it goes in your "read" pile regardless of what format it was.
Elie 🇵🇸🏳️🌈 (He/Him)@dancinyogi up until recently when I was forcing myself to read books despite struggling due to dyslexia I would have said no.
But since I discovered my public library lets me borrow audio books I’ve changed my opinion!!
But since I discovered my public library lets me borrow audio books I’ve changed my opinion!!
Synkr3tyk@dancinyogi Would we consider listening to an old style radio serial reading?
Justin Fitzsimmons@dancinyogi do you consider riding a bicycle "walking"?
Ginnikin@dancinyogi
A book is a story-delivery mechanism; audiobooks deliver the same story. Audiobooks are reading.
A book is a story-delivery mechanism; audiobooks deliver the same story. Audiobooks are reading.
LapisRising 👌@dancinyogi I'm surprised how many people consider listening to audiobooks reading.
You experience the same story, but the media are very different.
On the one hand, we don't "read" a song or "listen to" a newspaper, but on the other hand the outcome is the same.
I see where this is coming from, but it was still surprising.
You experience the same story, but the media are very different.
On the one hand, we don't "read" a song or "listen to" a newspaper, but on the other hand the outcome is the same.
I see where this is coming from, but it was still surprising.
Sculd🏳️🌈@dancinyogi I imagined what a blind person would react to this post. so i voted yes.
Willow (she/her)@dancinyogi There's two things at play here. There's the technical aspect of reading, which no, an audiobook does not provide.
And then there's whether listening to an audiobook counts as having read the book. Which yes it does.
I understand the pedantic "words have meaning" folks. But I also think it's fascinating watching words evolve as new situations develop. Language is a fluid and ever changing things. Which is beautiful and sometimes frustrating.
@dancinyogi Listening to an Audiobook is 100% reading in all meaningful sense of the word. It might not be "reading" in the context of a 7 year old child (or any adult) learning to read, but beside that, anyone who already know how to read would consider reading as not just looking at a physical piece of paper, but reading a text, a message, some kind of content written by someone. In that context, which concern anyone past the learning phase, reading on a screen is reading and listening to an audio book is reading. Absorbing a text is reading.
And while we are talking about literature and audio books, let me share this extract from Cyrano de Bergerac who basically predicted audiobooks back in 1657 in his book "The Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon".
Roughly translated from French (DeepL + minor corrections from me):
And yes, back in 1657, when talking about those mechanical books that somehow make sounds, he was using the word "reading".
Also, "30" books in your pocket, he’s cute.
Matt Campbell@matthieu_xyz @dancinyogi I'm not so sure. When you read visually, you have to actively advance through the text to take in more than a page. The same is true when reading Braille (even more so). But with audio, you can listen passively, and let your mind wander as the playback continues. So maybe having to actively go through the text is the distinguishing feature of reading.
ink and yarn@matt @matthieu_xyz @dancinyogi As someone with auditory processing disorder, the *only* way I can listen to a book (or podcast) is actively. If I let my mind wander I'm no longer taking in any aural information. I find it's a good practice in keeping my focus engaged - but it does take quite a bit more effort than reading printed words with my eyes.
@matthieu_xyz @dancinyogi But "reading" means to see and comprehend written symbols or marks and interpret them into meaning.
It's a vital skill that we encourage people to learn for a very good reason. It's one of the things that makes us unique among animals here on Earth. One of the good things. One of the best.
I would never diminish oral tradition and storytelling, but the written word is sacred to me. Just the idea of it, impressing reeds on clay tablets in Babylonia... it transcends time. It is the closest thing we as individuals have to Earthly immortality.
Oral is ephemeral as a song, beautiful and unique as a snowflake. It has a different magic, no less sacred.
And audiobooks are awesome. They're a recording of a great bard reciting an epic, written word for written word.
Still... "reading" is reading. You have to know how to read to read a book. If you can't read, whatever you're doing isn't reading, by definition.
It's a vital skill that we encourage people to learn for a very good reason. It's one of the things that makes us unique among animals here on Earth. One of the good things. One of the best.
I would never diminish oral tradition and storytelling, but the written word is sacred to me. Just the idea of it, impressing reeds on clay tablets in Babylonia... it transcends time. It is the closest thing we as individuals have to Earthly immortality.
Oral is ephemeral as a song, beautiful and unique as a snowflake. It has a different magic, no less sacred.
And audiobooks are awesome. They're a recording of a great bard reciting an epic, written word for written word.
Still... "reading" is reading. You have to know how to read to read a book. If you can't read, whatever you're doing isn't reading, by definition.
Kelly's Shenanigans 🇨🇦@dancinyogi I wonder if the people who say no don't read audiobooks, and are being snobby. I don't know why this is even a question. I read about 80-100 books a year, through audiobooks. A bit of an ableist question.
Nik@Kellyshenanigans I try to say nothing if I can’t say anything nice, but the gatekeeping in the replies to this question is exceedingly disappointing.
St. Chris@Kellyshenanigans @dancinyogi I may be an odd case for whom audiobooks are usually a sensory overwhelm. I feel like I hyperprocess verbal input whether it comes in through my eyes or my ears. I love reading out loud to other people! But my comprehension is often impaired if I’m listening to someone else read, because my inner experience of unfamiliar text is so intense and multi-threaded (including compulsively analyzing the spoken performance) that I lose track of the stream of spoken words.
@Kellyshenanigans @dancinyogi I wrote about this in 2011. Basically, I experience most audiobooks as Vogon poetry.
I don’t think audiobooks are a lesser form of reading — they just overload me.
@dancinyogi No, but also yes. It depends on what you're doing. If you're giving the audiobook the same degree of attention that you must with a printed book, then yes. I find most people will readily cop to not doing that, instead listening to audiobooks while splitting their attention.
Quinn Norton@dancinyogi I had a physical disability for most of my life that meant I couldn't read a physical book, and in that time i studied my ass off. I also wrote many things... often through dictation when my arms would should working.
Shafik Yaghmour@dancinyogi It is not the same to me but I can see how some folks use "reading" as a bucket term that encompasses a lot of different activities.
For example if my kids have to read 20 minutes a day then an audio book is not exercising the same skills. Although there is overlap.
I think audio books are great but I don't enjoy them the same way I enjoy reading.
@dancinyogi wow looking at some of these replies, i suppose i've never "read" a book in my life, in that i have an inner voice that speaks the text when i'm doing any reading or writing, and i don't have much comprehension without it.
fun to find out after 20 years as a professional writer that i'm illiterate 😂
Zenny@dancinyogi
It depends, mostly on context.
In the context of reading to expend your mind and experiences immersion or learn about things. Yes absolutely audiobooks are reading.
But there is a difference in a audiobook on in the background while driving or sitting down closing you eyes and enjoying story.
Do miss a good illustration some times.
tuban_muzuruIt was especially the case with cigar rollers, but the custom spread to many other industries: the workers would bring in someone to read aloud during the workday.
It became famous in Cuba, but it was widely seen elsewhere.
consumableJoy@dancinyogi @gavi It depends. If we are talking about a skill like “can you read?” as in perceive letters then I do not think it is the same. If it is “I am reading x books this year” as in transferring information from those books into my head, then I do count it as equivalent.
@dancinyogi @gavi Btw I specifically am talking about people who could physically be able to read. I think it’s important to make a distinction between listening and physically reading because literacy and the ability to actually read (if one can see) is an important skill that a number Americans have not learned well. All of us on Mastodon obviously do read but we need to remember we are part of a privileged group (in tech ways) and there are many who cannot or do not ever read
PG1958WILLNOTCOMPLY 🇺🇸🇷🇴🇺🇦🇵🇸@dancinyogi
With an audiobook I'm being read to, like when my children were young and I read them stories. I don't consider them to have "read" those books, they couldn't read yet.
With an audiobook I'm being read to, like when my children were young and I read them stories. I don't consider them to have "read" those books, they couldn't read yet.
shaneb@dancinyogi By definition, they are different, but when I finish an audiobook, I add it to my "have read list" because I have experienced the story.
So for me I guess it depends on the context when your asking the question.
Sandeha Lynch@dancinyogi
If someone told me they had absorbed the content and meaning of a book, I wouldn't dream of asking whether they had read it or listened to it.
However, listening and reading are not the same process or mechanism. Personally I would never listen to content if I could read it.
RowinSpeez@dancinyogi they’re different ways to take in the same information, but they are different. Is feeling braille the same as listening? Is walking the same as running?
Grant 
🇨🇦@dancinyogi
I don’t, but that’s just me. If I am reading a book my focus is dedicated (mostly, anyway) on the book and I get something out of it. If I am listening to a book, a podcast, anything that requires focus I usually don’t get much out of it.
I dislike ‘diagnosis’ without formal backing but I suspect a form of attention deficit is at play. My brain runs all over the place and I find after listening to something I just didn’t get much out of it.
settima@dancinyogi I'd say no, but of course for people who can't read themselves for any reason, #audiobooks = #books. #reading #literacy #disability
@dancinyogi
What a can o’ worms this turned into! I commented before reading other comments and certainly see a diversity of opinion.
And that’s the key, this is a subjective question, personal to each of us and isn’t a black n white thing. I understand totally those who day ‘yes’ and am somewhat envious!
I confess I’ve never given as much thought to the definition of ‘reading’ until this thread. If I stretch myself a little bit I could extend my definition to include listening, but not today.
Sumukha S@dancinyogi Yes of course Stacy. You can even read the kindle book on the Alexa without audible.
DesertHarper@dancinyogi I personally don't care for them as I don't process audio as well (plus, I don't care for only 1 voice compared to my imagination). However, if that's how someone who is visually impaired can enjoy books, then hell yes, it counts. :)