Abstract
The chapter discusses the term multitasking as a motivating and engaging aspect of audio reading, motivated by pleasure, habits, and perceived efficiency. Efficiency and productivity are for good or bad a condition in modern societies, permeating all aspects of our lives, and a part of the answer to the overwhelming popularity of digital audiobooks is that they offer fundamentally different reading situations allowing ‘wasted’ time (waiting for the bus, commuting, cleaning, etc.) to become quality time. The chapter presents and discusses patterns of audio reading drawing on existing studies, statistics, and literature on what motivates people to listen to audiobooks. The focus is on the values that audio reading brings into many peoples’ everyday lives, and the chapter deliberately de-emphasizes the downsides of the performance culture and the accelerating modern society. As a consequence, the chapter challenges the cultural values and media hierarchies of a negative character usually related to audiobooks.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Digital Reading Condition |
| Place of publication | Abingdon |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Publication date | 2023 |
| Pages | 135-144 |
| Chapter | 12 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781032078120, 9781032075761 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781003211662 |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |