Digital Literacy and the Impact of Google on Reading Culture

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Digital Literacy
The world has heavily invested in education programs but despite that, almost 18 percent
of the adults in the world are not able to read and write (Aker, Ksoll, and Lybbert p. 96). Lack of
literacy is mostly contributed by the limited access to literary works and reading culture among
adults. Traditionally, literacy required books and without them literacy remained out of reach to
many. Therefore, millions of people do not have chance to read because of this barrier. However,
in the contemporary world this is changing with the barrier tremendously receding courtesy of
widespread of inexpensive mobile technology. Today, mobile phones have offered the most
convenient, affordable, and easy to use method for accessing reading materials online. Mobile
phone technologies and the internet have transformed a scarcer source into an abundant one. I
used to think that libraries and books stores are the only ways I could access reading material,
but this changed when I learned about Google and its powerful tool to access reading resources
online. Now Google has changed my reading culture by its functionality to access and share the
immeasurable amount of online materials that I no longer think about library or bookshops.
Google marked a significant era of information sharing in the modern world. Before its
emergence, people used traditional methods of information sharing like fax, letters, and books
which were limited by distance, cost, and convenience. Today, people use Google to research
information on the web of interlinked websites. However, Google cannot be considered a stand
along with technology because it has been made possible by the growth in internet and

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development in mobile devices. As such, people use Google for two main applications, including
information search and information sharing.
Traditionally, people accessed news, magazines, journals, and books through print media.
Today, although print media have not been obsolete, most have reduced production and turned to
digitally accessible information. The major newspapers in the U.S. like the New York Times is
not being read online with few people reading the print copies. Scholarly journals are also
available online, and hence, the researcher has better access to research materials (Buckingham
p. 25). Other media which never existed in print owned online domain through which they
disseminate information and news. In essence, most readers find it easy and convenient to search
for a book, broadcast, or any information online rather than buying a copy from a local store.
Online search was made possible by Google by transforming how people get information. In my
early age, I used to visit the library to research or access certain information or a book. It was
before I learned about Google. I came to realize that it was the cheapest and convenient method
of acquiring any text. Thus, this has changed by reading habit where I can read from anywhere
using my phone. Similarly, the search engine has given a chance to more and more people to
read.
Additionally, Google has the capability of not only accessing books, news, and other
texts, but also people can share their content. People, organizations, and groups create websites,
blogs, Google Docs, or use other sites like Quora and Goodreads, to share their thoughts. The
numerous websites indexed by Google has made it possible for people to research content to
write and publish online. I never knew about this when I was nine. The only method for sharing
text was through a letter, book, newspaper, among other print media. Fortunately, when I became