Kai Cenat returned from hiatus to read on livestreams. His new “bookstreaming” content is centered on reading self-help books in 20-minute chunks, pausing to look up words he doesn’t know and stumbling through pronunciations. It’s unpolished, but that’s the point. One recent study found 35% of Gen Z K-12 students say they dislike reading and less than half read for fun, which explains why literacy stats are struggling lately. But education specialists say bookstreaming successfully taps into “body doubling”—the idea that people engage better when someone’s doing the task alongside them. Cenat’s willingness to work on reading publicly normalizes the process, with fans now joking about “books-maxxing” like their favorite creator. Other streamers are following his lead, turning live reading into an unlikely subgenre. (Cosmopolitan)
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