How do young adults read and share stories online?

About the study

As young adults are increasingly more involved in online reading practices, but these practices are woefully under-investigated, it is important that we obtain an understanding of how these platforms are used, and through what mechanisms these types of shared reading activities affect readers’ sense of well-being and their reading habits. We call these practices “Digital Social Reading”, as they are mediated digitally, involve some sort of social interaction or use of social platforms, and centre around the activity of reading.
Our current working definition is:
Digital Social Reading is the ways readers talk about books and share their ideas about them using online platforms. It can include direct communication, community engagement, but also passively reading, watching or listening to content — including simply lurking. 

More specifically, we are interested in people who:

• rate or write book reviews on Goodreads
• share or look for book recommendations on BookTok & Bookstagram
• watch other readers on BookTube or Twitch
• engage in conversations on platforms like Discord, Tumblr, or Twitter (X)
• read or contribute to fanfiction (e.g. on AO3)
• read or provide scanlations
• and much more

For our research purposes, we focus on people reading within the genre of fiction.

Research Team

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Moniek M. Kuijpers
Research Associate: Pema Frick M.A.
Research Associate: Dr. Cristina Loi

Institutions & Funding

Located at the Digital Humanities Lab of the University of Basel.

Part of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Funded Eccellenza project: Shared Reading in the Age of Digitalization (SHARD)

Goals

We hope to arrive at a better sense of what the most popular platforms are and what kind of practices young adults engage in on these platforms. Additionally, we are interested in whether the practices they engage in benefit their reading habits and sense of well-being.

Participation Details

• Age: 18–25 years old
• Languages in which you can participate: English and German
• Compensation: Book voucher

Approved by the University Ethics Committee; data is stored securely and anonymized.

Participate Now

Start the survey: LimeSurvey (E) / LimeSurvey (D)

Read participant information: PDF
To find out: Can I withdraw? Do I need to prepare anything? Will my name appear anywhere?

Contact

If you’re unsure whether you fit the criteria or have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at dsrstudy-dhlab@clutterunibas.ch