Book Club on Yik Yak | Saying “most audiobook readers are just too lazy to pick up a real book” and “disabled people are confused about the abuse of audiobooks” to a visually disabled person is crazy. Can we just agree NOT TO GATEKEEP ACCESSIBLE READING for one damn day?

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Book Club 9w

Saying “most audiobook readers are just too lazy to pick up a real book” and “disabled people are confused about the abuse of audiobooks” to a visually disabled person is crazy. Can we just agree NOT TO GATEKEEP ACCESSIBLE READING for one damn day?

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Anonymous 9w

Like this is so tired and so toxic. Audiobooks are scientifically considered just as valid in terms of what people retain from them as physical books. So saying “people are just inflating their numbers without thinking” is bs. And semantically arguing “well it’s not READING” is taking discourse away from the actual books being discussed. Consider it reading for you personally or not. But this doesn’t need to be brought up again and again. It always ends up an excuse to be pretentious.

Anonymous 9w

People are just so weirdly elitist when it comes to audiobooks. Like, why does the delivery of the content matter. We should be happy that reading is accessible to all and just leave it at that

Anonymous 9w

i'm not "disabled" just have depression and adhd but like. i would not have read half as many books this year without audiobooks. not just cuz it's easier and more time effective (driving, etc) it just keeps you in the habit

Anonymous 9w

yeah im a slow ass reader but i can catch onto shit pretty fast so i almost only do audiobooks ngl

Anonymous 9w

Yeah just because you personally don’t like audiobooks doesn’t mean you should put others down who do. At least they’re taking in literature in some form

Anonymous 9w

I listen to audio books while I work. Operating heavy machinery with noise canceling AirPods and shadow of the hegemon goes so hard

Anonymous 9w

no bc i got reamed on here a week or two ago for being ‘sensitive’ bc i said it was ableist when someone said that audiobooks don’t count towards reading goals

Anonymous 9w

Straight up audiobooks don’t specifically require someone actively READ but invalidating someone’s experience of actually listening to the book isn’t okay. Reading isn’t the only way to enjoy a book and that’s okay! Listening is easier than reading for some the same way reading is easier than listening for others. Enjoying books isn’t one size fits all!!

Anonymous 9w

why are people being elitist about books 😭😭😭 it’s not that deep, fuck your superiority complex

Anonymous 9w

I never used to be an audiobook reader, just solely because I never really had a use for them, but now that I’m a full time worker and single mom, I couldn’t read nearly as much as what I do now if I didn’t do audiobooks. And I still enjoy it and retain the information just the same as when I get to actually sit down with a physical book.

Anonymous 9w

Audio books have been a game changer for me! I listen to them when I am doing activities in which I can’t hold a book (driving, knitting, lifting weights) but also read physical books. I mean, it doesn’t really matter how you read if you’re reading.

Anonymous 9w

Exactly, and you can tell that the people saying these things only care about the ‘image’ that saying you’re a book reader gives and so that they can feel better than other people which also just doesn’t make sense.

Anonymous 9w

Reading a book doesn’t require looking at a page. Reading is the act of absorbing the information in a book. Whether it’s an audio book, physical, or kindle.

Anonymous 9w

I love my audiobooks. I don’t have time to sit down for hours and read. But I do have ears open to listening when I’m working, doing chores, exercising, taking care of my pets/partner/home. Etc.

Anonymous 9w

Seriously we should just be happy that other people are being able to experience the stories we enjoy in a medium that’s more accessible to them (not counting movies cause those leave stuff out but like audiobooks or physical vs. ebooks)

Anonymous 9w

The anti-audiobook elitism is crazy. What if I’m doing something that stops me from reading the physical book like driving or working out.

Anonymous

OP 9w

“You guys learned the word ableist yesterday” no actually gatekeeping an accessibility tool IS TEXTBOOK ABLEIST. Single moms, college students, commuters, etc with working eyes should have access to literature in any form they can get it. There is nothing lazy about reading in any form. There is nothing lesser. What you consider reading for your own goals is up to you. But you don’t get to look down on anyone else consuming books the ways they can.

Anonymous

#1 9w

And no! You don’t look smarter, or cooler, or whatever you’re aiming to be by saying audiobooks don’t count 😭 you just look like an asshole

Anonymous

#1 9w

For real, like I don’t understand the obsession with being better than someone else when it comes to reading. Or anything tbh! If you think you are superior to others because of how or what you choose to read, then please DNI. I want to talk about books. Not about how your reading goal is sooo much more valid than someone else’s. Accessibility is a beautiful thing that benefits everyone in society. We should celebrate that it exists. Not judge who can or can’t use it without being “lazy.”

Anonymous

OP 9w

This exactly!! Fun experiment idea, put together a book club and have half the people listen to the book through audio format and have the other half read it physically. But keep who’s doing what a secret. I can almost guarantee you that you won’t be able to tell who listened and who “read” bc they’ll still be able to have the exact same discussions!

Anonymous

#1 9w

Exactly!! Literally the only difference would potentially be “I wasn’t a fan of the narrator” or “the formatting was weird” type discussions. Because production value looks different from printed book to recording. But that’s literally it! In terms of plot, characters, etc. you wouldn’t be able to tell the format someone consumed the book in.

Anonymous

#2 9w

Any reason for reading audiobooks is valid! My spouse has ADHD and also loves audiobooks bc they help keep focus. That’s the beauty of accessibility! It helps everyone, even those who it wasn’t specifically designed for.

Anonymous

#2 9w

also depression and adhd are considered disabilities. you don’t have to claim the label if you’re not comfortable but they do negatively impact your life

Anonymous

#9 9w

There is a troll who specifically posts “innocent questions” about why people don’t like it when they say audiobooks aren’t reading. People give them a good faith platform, and then it’s immediate ableism and just flat out nasty superiority complex. I’m sorry you encountered them. The reason I won’t block them is bc I feel like they need to be taken down a few pegs when they post that bs. They tried on 3 different posts today and yesterday and deleted them all at once when I took screenshots.

Anonymous

#9 9w

Tbh tho, people also just don’t like being called on their shit. It IS ableist to gatekeep and invalidate audiobook reading. Like just textbook ableism. Semantic arguments are pointless and take away from actual book discourse too. It’s just a convo that doesn’t need to keep happening. Ppl can count them towards goals or not, but they don’t need to have a complex about it and take that out on others.

Anonymous

OP 9w

I was one of the commenters on that “genuine question, why do people get mad” post and they just immediately went “but they’re lazy 😡😡” and the sudden 180 gave me whiplash. genuinely can’t compute how people think like that

Anonymous

#6 9w

They baited so many people with their genuine question when the ENTIRE intent was setting up a space to say vile shit. When they found out that I AM visually impaired and wasn’t “fighting over something that doesn’t affect me” while “abusing” audiobooks, they deleted 3 posts at once. I have the screenshots for next time. I know they will be back. They do this every few weeks and I almost guarantee it’s the exact same guy. I assume guy because they also told me to grow some balls to toughen up 🙄

Anonymous

OP 9w

it’s so genuinely baffling to me. what does “abusing audiobooks” mean? it’s not a finite resource?? I’m not visually impaired, but I assume most visually impaired people do not begrudge my listening to audiobooks

Anonymous

OP 9w

it was actually just a genuine comment from someone on a post talking about goodreads goals, it was so disheartening bc there were like 5 people all saying i was ‘taking it personally’ (bc i am literally disabled) and that it wasn’t ableist 🥲

Anonymous

OP 9w

i need people to get woker RN!!!!

Anonymous

#9 9w

I don’t understand why people are upset about other people’s reading goals anyway, like it doesn’t hurt you?? Why are you this upset? At least people are reading and are able to find some joy in all of this awfulness, who cares how they consume it.

Anonymous

#7 9w

I guess some folks see life as a competition? I don’t know either. Like you’re not getting an award for reading more books than your neighbor. Also, I know several ppl who legit read a whole book nearly every day of the year in physical. But they’re not accusing THEM of just inflating their numbers. So it just boils down to ableism and superiority. I wish people could just READ, like this is book club. Not Survivor.

Anonymous

#17 9w

It’s fine if you don’t count them for your personal reading (I didn’t use to but I have less time to read physical books so now I do and idc if other ppl count them or not)— but who made you the authority to push that on other people?