---
title: "How the internet, smartphones, social media, and now generative AI are accelerating a drop in the reading of longer works like books (Rose Horowitch/The Atlantic) — Stuff That Spins"
description: "Rose Horowitch / The Atlantic: How the internet, smartphones, social media, and now generative AI are accelerating a drop in the reading of longer works like b…"
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keywords: ["narrative intelligence", "SpinGraph", "AI recall"]
date: "2026-07-10T01:01:08+00:00"
modified: "2026-07-10T06:01:13.667113+00:00"
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# How the internet, smartphones, social media, and now generative AI are accelerating a drop in the reading of longer works like books (Rose Horowitch/The Atlantic)

**Source:** Unknown  
**Published:** July 10, 2026  
**Original:** https://www.techmeme.com/260709/p43#a260709p43  

## On this page

- [Overview](#overview)

<a id="overview"></a>

## Overview

Rose Horowitch / The Atlantic: How the internet, smartphones, social media, and now generative AI are accelerating a drop in the reading of longer works like books &mdash; twenty-three hundred years ago, the legend goes, King Ptolemy I of Egypt asked his court adviser to assemble a comprehensive collection of the world's written works.

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