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Not so long ago, admitting that you hardly ever read would have been embarrassing. Today, however, a lack of interest in books seems to have become almost fashionable among some members of the younger generation — at least judging by the surprising confession of popular influencer Alix Earle.

On Instagram, Interview Magazine asked the 25-year-old influencer: “What was the last book you read?”

“I’ve never read books,” Earle replied matter-of-factly while wrapped in a bathrobe in Milan. “Well, maybe Dr. Seuss.”

For one of the best-known representatives of Generation Z, the admission was particularly surprising. Earle has 8.7 million followers on TikTok and nearly 6 million on Instagram. She rose to fame through her “get ready with me” videos, in which she shares her makeup routines, outfits and snippets of everyday life.

Earle, however, is far from the only young woman who rarely, if ever, opens a book. According to the New York Post article, her confession reflects a broader trend: more and more people are spending their free time on their smartphones rather than reading.

In 2025, researchers analyzed 20 years of data from the American Time Use Survey, covering nearly a quarter of a million people. The findings showed that the share of Americans who read for pleasure on an average day has almost been cut in half over the past two decades, falling from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023.

The trend is particularly striking among teenagers. Americans between the ages of 15 and 19 spend an average of 1.3 hours a day on computer-based entertainment, while only about nine minutes are devoted to reading for pleasure.

A similar pattern is emerging in the United Kingdom. Just 32% of children and teenagers say they enjoy reading for pleasure — a 36% decline from 2005.

The problem, however, goes beyond young people simply losing interest in books. According to the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 2024 only about one-third of American high school seniors reached the level considered sufficient for confident reading and comprehension.

The author argues that this represents a serious problem: an entire generation is growing up surrounded by smartphones and short-form content without gaining the experience that reading books provides. It is not simply about acquiring knowledge, but also about the chance to stumble upon an unexpected idea, become immersed in a complex story and experience the satisfaction of finishing a challenging book.

Even universities, the article notes, are beginning to adapt to students’ declining interest in reading.

Professors at prestigious American universities told The Atlantic that students are often surprised by the expectation that they should read several books during a single semester. In response, some professors have reduced the amount of assigned reading or even eliminated portions of the required reading altogether.

Columbia University has also revised its required Literature Humanities course. In 2024, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s approximately 500-page novel Crime and Punishment was removed from the reading list, with the aim of increasing student engagement with the roughly 20 books that remain on the syllabus for the academic year.

One college professor also told the author of the article that, whenever possible, he had begun replacing required reading with educational videos. According to him, students are more likely to actually watch a video than read a text.

There is, however, some good news. As interest in reading declines among Generation Z, a kind of literary counterreaction is emerging.

Book clubs are becoming increasingly popular. Eventbrite reported that the number of book-club events rose by 33% in a single year.

BookTok, the book-focused community on TikTok, is also growing rapidly. As of April, the #BookTok hashtag had amassed more than 77 million posts, a 65% increase in just one year. According to Publishers Weekly, TikTok helped drive the sale of around 60 million books in 2023.

Social media is also seeing a growing number of T-shirts and sweatshirts emblazoned with the slogan “Reading is sexy.”

These trends offer some reason for optimism, but the author urges readers not to overlook the importance of reading. An educated and literate society is essential to the functioning of social institutions and is particularly important in a democratic society.

Perhaps Alix Earle’s confession is yet another reminder of just how dramatically the habits of a new generation have changed — and of how the book is gradually giving way to the screen.

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