Technological Revolution
when was the last time you picked up a book? Not an E-book or an audio book, a physical book. Now, when the last time you picked up your phone?
No, no, this is not a jab to make you feel bad, I promise. It is simply an exercise that introduces the focus of this article today. Technology has no doubt revolutionized our lives. We can send a message to someone a few states or even a few thousand miles across the sea, all while sitting comfortably on our couch. We can learn about major events in any and every country the moment that it happens. It has connected us in ways that our ancestors could have never even imagined. However, In the wake of this technological revolution many forms of media have become essentially obsolete. Leaving many to wonder, which could be next?
The Death of Literature?
To some, physical print like books and newspaper are the obvious choice. With shrinking attention spans thanks to social media, and falling reading levels, this makes print a prime victim for the chopping block.
The rise of social media and other digital platforms along with self-publishing technologies, and algorithm driven content has no doubt disrupted the traditional models of the publishing industry, the question now is, will they be able to adapt to this technological typhoon or will they sink into becoming obsolete
First off, before we get into the changes technology has had on the publishing industry it would be best to take time to understand what the traditional publishing process actually is. Traditionally writers would send in a manuscript to a publishing house or literary agent, if accepted the publishing company draws up a contract to obtain rights to the book as well as negotiate royalties and compensation for both the author and themselves. Then the manuscript will enter the editing process to clean up the content, structure, and style of the book. The manuscript will then receive a cover design and be given one final proofread before being marketed and eventually released to stores where they will be sold to the public (Hviid, Sanchez, Jaques, 2016). It is a long and tedious process but is structured in a way to ensure quality. This is where we meet one of our first issue brought on by the digital age, self publication.
Slowly companies like Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, and Smashwords started popping up and offering authors the opportunity to sidestep the traditional process entirely and allowing them to collect a higher percentage on royalties compared to if they were to go through a traditional publishing house (Hviid, Sanchez, Jaques, 2016). This side stepping of the process of of course disrupts the publishing process as authors no longer have to rely solely on publishing houses to get their work out for the public. Now, from a consumer perspective this seems like a wonderful thing, and in some ways it really is. It allows access to those who writers who may be unfamiliar with the traditional publishing process or those who may have had manuscripts rejected in the past. It also gives more control to the author both creatively and financially. Some even argue that the introduction of self publishing gives consumers a larger selection to choose from and gives traditional publishing houses some healthy competition, and this is true to an extent. However this also harms the book market as while traditional publishing houses focus more on quality over quantity, self publication encourages the opposite leading to an oversaturation of books with a poorer quality, as well as introduces issues of content faking and copyright (Osadci-Baciu, Zbuchea, & Pinzaru, 2024) Really and truly there is not much that publishers can do about this issue other than continue to rely on the data that they collect from prior sales and continue to strive for quality while also predicting trends.
Chart taken from the 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report (Pg.14)
Speaking of trends, enter the world of content creation. Here we can zoom out a bit and use this information to examine the publising industry as a whole (Books, Newspapers, ect.) Prior to the creations of platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok as well as other open access content creation like blogs and fanfiction, content creation was a tightly gatekept industry. The only way that books or news articles could be published was through a traditional publishing house. Now, most anyone with a decent device and internet connection is able to create and publish their thoughts, ideas and works for the public.
This raises many of the same issues that I mentioned earlier with the option of self publication. A media market oversaturated with content, each competing for the limited attention of it's consumers. In addition to this, the most popular platforms such as Instagram and especially TikTok have popularized short form content, videos and posts that take up less that a minute of your time and give you information almost instantaneously. Add in the fact of Gen-Z's growing distrust with traditional news outlets, instead opting to rely more on influencers and you are met with an audience that no longer has the time or attention span to want to engage in long form media like books and articles (Newman et al., 2024). In a survey taken by the Reuters Institute Digital News Report in 2024, 66% of participants preferred social video platforms platforms similar to TikTok and Instagram over more traditional forms of media (Newman et al., 2024). This, of course has created a devastating shift as well as some fierce competition for the industry. So the question on all of our minds is, How are they keeping up?
Survival of the fittest
Well, publishing companies do have one thing going for them at the moment, and that is that despite the somewhat newfound competition short form media platforms are posing, there are still many consumers that, for now, still value the experience of physical books. Additionally, if used well we have seen the ways in which social media platforms can actually turn into an easy marketing opportunity rather than a competitor. Ever heard of Book-Tok? Still, many major publishing houses have undergone major changes in order to keep up with the fickle market of entertainment in this new era, many of which, as you're about to see, being truly successful.
(Kalmykov, 2024)
As you can see, these changes may seem small, but they are what have kept these publishers and many other within the realm of relevance for consumers.
Posts from the official Penguin Random House (left) and HarperCollins (right) Instagram account, promoting/ showcasing titles that they have/ are showcasing
The rise of Technology doesn't mean that we have to loose the media we care about. It is a tool that can allow those, who otherwise would have never had the opportunity, access to titles and content that they didn't, or even better, couldn't access before. It is a tool that, so far, seems to be working as according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) May 2025 report, physical media like hardcover and paperback books made up approximately 70% of all literary media sold. This percentage has managed to stay relatively the same throughout the 2025 monthly reports. But these changes are just the beginning and many believe that there are still changes to help the industry continue to stay ahead of the technological game.
According to Erin Carreiro Author of Electronic Books: How Digital Devices and Supplementary New Technologies are Changing the Face of the Publishing Industry, There are a few safeguards that publishing houses can take to ensure their continued success. Encryption software can solve this issue of piracy by assigning each book a unique key. The Key is stored within a Digital Asset Management system (DAM) that publishers can track. This key ensures that only those who have purchased an e-book will be able to access it, reducing the rate of e-book redistribution without authorization(Carreiro, 2010). It is systems like these that allow Publishers to continue producing content for digital consumption, without having to worry about major loss in revenue.
So, when asked, "what form of media do you think is going next?" I say, why must we have to give up the forms that we know and love today? If this article has shown you anything, I hope that it is the fact that newer forms of media don't have to be our new reality, rather it can simply be a handy tool that allows us further access to titles that we may not have seen before, while still holding on to the experience that physical media gives us.