Scanners vs. Readers

I don’t have a smart phone.

Or a laptop.

My mobile can’t send or receive emails.

Or access the internet.

I can’t take pics and upload them instantly to facebook.

I don’t like Twitter.

I don’t have a Tumblr.

But, I do like online news.

So how is it that I differ so greatly, not only from the Gen Y stereotype, but the stereotyped online news user? I can’t possibly be the only one, there must be thousands of us out there, weirdos who aren’t constantly tapping away on their iPhones, ‘plugged in’ to the online world every minute of the day.

But are speed and applicability really the major reasons online news has taken off? Actually, I find news organisations’ online sites cater particularly well to me, strange person who only accesses the internet from an old school computer. I like to have time when I’m on a news website, I like to absorb the information, re-read particular sections, follow links, engage in interactive visuals, things that are near impossible to accomplish if you are accessing a news site during your 10 second lift journey from level 2 to 6 on an 8x4 centimetre screen.

I love to explore a news story, and the internet has provided the infinite space allowing journalists to do the same. Large, analytical articles that really get to the bones of an issue are now able to be published and accessed. I can view award-winning journalistic pieces with a few clicks; thorough, brilliant works free of charge.

But most of all, I love that it doesn’t have to be 140 characters or less.

Oh, the irony of the internet.