Social media rewards attention and appearance, amplifying performative displays while real, private reading remains slow and resistant to feed-driven metrics.

A rise of performative reading sees people use reading as a social signal or status tool, often showcased on platforms rather than engaged with the text.

David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest is cited as a quintessential example of performative reading due to its notoriety, complexity, and themes of loneliness, consumerism, and the search for meaning.

The piece ties performative reading to broader questions of authenticity and virtue signaling, drawing on Kant, Rousseau, and Foucault to frame how selfhood and power structures shape online identity.

The article situates the phenomenon amid literacy and humanities education challenges, noting declining reading rates, concerns about comprehension, and the impact of AI on how people engage with texts.

Performative reading is contrasted with authentic reading, highlighting motives behind public displays of literacy and a wider trend toward self-curation and image-conscious behavior online.

Ultimately, the piece advocates for reading as a contemplative, solitary practice that counters screen-driven incentives and questions what authenticity means in a media-saturated culture.