How InstaText can improve your reading skills

With research showing that reading culture is on the decline, do you want to know how you can use InstaText to improve not only your texts and writing skills, but also your reading skills?

This article answers that question, but first let’s take a look at why reading culture is declining and the impact this has on us as individuals and as a society.

Digital media and educational pressures

Reading, once a cherished habit, is becoming a dwindling tradition, mainly because of social media. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram provide a constant stream of bite-sized, visually appealing content, shifting content consumption habits from deep, reflective engagement to surface-level skimming.

Another reason for the decline of reading culture is the strong emphasis on memorisation, standardised tests, and test scores in many educational systems instead of genuine intellectual curiosity and meaningful learning. While countries like Finland encourage reading for enjoyment or exploration, many educational models around the world treat it as an academic task.

Consequences of a fading reading culture

Why should poor reading habits concern us as individuals and as a society? Let’s explore the implications according to experts.

1- Cognitive consequences

There is extensive research on the cognitive benefits of reading. Numerous studies show that regular reading improves cognitive skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, reasoning, in-depth analysis, memory, attention, comprehension, and creativity.

Poor reading habits not only deprive a person of these cognitive benefits, but also lead to a less informed, less innovative workforce, which is particularly detrimental in fields such as research where meticulous analysis and complex problem solving are required.

2- Societal impact

Reading is more than just absorbing words. It fosters empathy by involving readers in experiences beyond their own. It essentially serves as a bridge between cultures and generations. For this reason, a poor reading culture risks diminishing social understanding and empathy, which in turn can lead to increased polarisation and a decline in social unity.

3- Professional and economic implications

As organisations such as the World Economic Forum point out, reading is a fundamental component of literacy, which is necessary for many modern professions in today’s knowledge-based economy—especially in areas involving analysis, communication, and research.

A decline in reading skills means limited development for the individual. It also means that employers are faced with a growing skills gap in the workforce when recruiting new staff. It also makes it more difficult for companies to upskill or reskill their existing employees, as weak reading skills limit their ability to engage with advanced learning material.

A declining reading culture therefore undermines not only the personal and professional development of individuals, but also the productivity, innovation, and competitiveness of the economy as a whole.

Potential solutions

While collective action such as reforming education systems and creating physical and digital spaces—such as libraries and online forums dedicated to reflective reading and thoughtful discussion—can help reverse this decline, there are also actions we can take individually to cultivate a reading habit.

Writing is one of them.

Reading and writing aren’t identical skills, but it’s well-documented that they’re closely linked. Research has found that writing can build better readers and vice versa.

The relationship between reading and writing

Let’s explore how reading and writing are related and how, according to experts, the development of reading and writing skills are mutually reinforcing, with mastery of one enhancing the development of the other.

First of all, there are a number of cognitive skills that are required for both reading and writing, such as attention and verbal working memory.

In reading, for example, the person has to pay sustained attention when decoding words, whereas in writing this ability is demonstrated through spelling.

Another example is verbal working memory, which refers to the capacity to temporarily store and process verbal information such as letters, words, or numbers. When a person reads a text, they often retain a completed sentence in their working memory and then reread the preceding sentence to improve their understanding. Verbal working memory is used in writing when a person puts phrases, sentences, and paragraphs together.

So the cognitive skills developed through reading are transferred to writing and vice versa.

What’s more, people who read more are exposed to more words, which improves their reading comprehension, as word recognition is an important part of fluent reading. In addition, a larger vocabulary leads to better spelling and writing in general. It’s said that those who better understand what they read tend to show a greater interest in writing because they are aware of word relationships, sentence patterns, grammar rules, text structure, etc.

Another way in which reading and writing are linked is that writing is the act of sharing facts and experiences. So writing is about gathering background knowledge, life experiences, data, and ideas that support the topic in question. So the more we read, the better we can write, and this creates a virtuous cycle.

How InstaText helps you become a better writer and reader

InstaText is, as you may know, an advanced editing assistant. But it’s more than just an editor. Unlike tools like ChatGPT and AI writers, InstaText doesn’t use generative AI. Instead, it uses other advanced language technologies, meaning it doesn’t create new content from scratch but analyses and improves the existing content that the user provides for editing.

In combination with the interactive editing style of InstaText, this creates an experience that goes beyond improving the text.

When you edit with InstaText, you can see each suggested change and either accept or reject it. By paying close attention to the changes and accepting or rejecting them thoughtfully, you can mindfully engage in the process. This gives you the opportunity to learn new words, improve your grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and better convey your overall message.

5‑MINUTE SELF-EDITING EXERCISE

– Open the InstaText Editor and paste a paragraph you wrote yesterday.
– Accept or reject the suggestions one by one.
– Re‑read the improved version aloud.
– Notice how the changes make the text easier to absorb—and notice how your brain now expects that same clarity when you next read someone else’s text.

Make it a micro‑habit
– Do one paragraph a day for a week.
– After each edit, skim three pages of unrelated reading and observe the difference.

And as mentioned earlier, these skills, as well as the cognitive development that takes place in the process, have a positive effect on your reading experience, which in turn makes you a better writer.

If you’re already a user, you probably know the many benefits of InstaText. By reading our blog, you can gain new insights into its features, functions, and use cases. Not a user yet? Try InstaText for free and see for yourself how its editing style sets it apart from generative AI tools.

“InstaText helps me revise my texts to sound more native-like. It corrects my grammar. Its word choices are precise. It preserves my writing tone and style. It does every important thing two tools can do in one. If you feel like you need a writing assistant to guide you throughout your whole write-up with concrete suggestions without ever losing your unique touch, then InstaText is the way to go.”

— Ken Moo, Entrepreneur and SaaS Specialist

“I find InstaText very helpful. It makes me much faster in writing papers. I’m a perfectionist and usually spend (way too) much time finding the right words and making sure that sentences are easily readable even if the concepts are arbitrarily complicated. InstaText makes my life easier. I recommend it to any PhD student or researcher, whether a native English speaker or not.”

— Giulia Guidi, PhD Student, University of California, Berkeley

“There’re are countless features which I like about InstaText. It’s a game changer for editing, as it suggests changes to make the text more understandable. The best part is that it completely rewrites a sentence for you when necessary. The quality of writing and editing has become so impressive. It’s quite user friendly and improves your writing to make it more readable without losing your originality.”

— Mohit Manraaj, Author