Today, April 23rd, we celebrate World Book Day. Literature has evolved greatly in recent times, both in the way we enjoy it and the way we consume it. How we read, in the digital realm, has changed. In today’s on-the-go society, it is becoming less and less common for people to use paperbacks or hardcovers, and is becoming more and more common that we use many different platforms to enjoy reading. Now we read from our smartphones, tablets, eBooks … Electronic ink has been imprinted in our lives. We read everything and anything from short stories to novels, the news to blogs… we turn them into trending topics. We even share excerpts from the books we read on social media. Stories become viral thanks to transmedia storytelling and techniques.
Not only are we seduced with words, but audiovisual content plays a very important role in grabbing our attention. New technology enriches our reading, using videos or photos to interact with the reader. We live in the era of Branded Content. Struggling brands position themselves in a way that seems “organic” in the minds of consumers by offering unique and high-quality content. Now we are fluent in a new language, digital language, and the language in which today’s literature is based on. We write simpler and add hyperlinks. Digital writing is intended to be enjoyed only on-screen, 100%.
Tips to safeguard your reading device
We often forget that a computer virus in Windows can be passed to a smartphone whether it’s an iOS or Android, and a lot of these viruses can even infect our eReaders. To prevent malware from damaging our reading device, whatever it is, we must follow these guidelines:
1- Beware of USB ports: we must first analyze anything that can be inserted into a computer or electronic device. This is the simplest and most popular way cybercriminals can infect our devices.
2- Only buy or download eBooks from legitimate online stores or known editorial pages.
3- Beware of file size: if we introduce some eBook DRM we must be wary if it occupies more than 2Mb, as it could possibly be a virus that could damage the device.
4- Install an eBooks library manager: if the eBook is a virus or has one, the manager will alert us.
Like always, prevention continues to be the best option to help us enjoy our reading (or browsing) safely. Happy World Book Day!