Taiwanese spend an average of just over 20 minutes per day reading books, a private survey released yesterday showed.
The survey was conducted by the Grassroots Influence Foundation in March to analyze changes in reading habits among people over the age of 18.
The poll showed that 68 percent of respondents relied on television for information. About 16 percent gathered information using computers, tablet computers or smartphones. Only 11.75 percent received information through newspapers.
Although television was the main source of information for older, middle-aged and young people, their secondary sources diverged, with elderly and middle-aged people favoring newspapers, while young people go online or check their mobile devices for information, the survey showed.
People spent an average of 2.66 hours per day on computers, tablet computers and mobile phones for entertainment purposes or information. That compares with an average of 2.09 hours spent watching television, 31.2 minutes reading newspapers and 20.4 minutes reading books, the poll showed.
The popularity of mobile devices has also changed the way people shop, with more than 80 percent of the younger respondents saying they shop over the Internet.
The research also touched on the impact of mobile devices and media.
Foundation research center spokesperson Chen Sung-po (陳松柏) said that the government has held many seminars to introduce the cross-strait service trade agreement, but they failed to reach the general public because they mainly target industry representatives.
“Young people can easily mobilize hundreds of thousands of people through the use of social networks and mobile phone applications. The government can only reach its target audiences by understanding changes in reading habits,” Chen said.
Shih Hsin University professor Su Chien-chou (蘇健州) said obvious generational differences exist in media use. Instead of reading one or two newspapers, young people actively search for information over the Internet and through social networks, Su said.
National Taipei University of Technology professor Keng Ching-jui (耿慶瑞) said he was concerned that fewer people are reading printed books and that readership in general is declining.
“Perhaps we can tackle [the problem] by working on electronic books,” Keng said. “However, the market for ebooks has yet to mature.”
The survey collected a total of 1,084 valid samples with a margin of error of 3 percent.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS