Books and reading have always been a huge part of my life – but I don’t have nearly as much time to read for pleasure these days and as such, I didn’t get a chance to read any of the books nominated for this year’s Nobel Literature Prize.   This year’s esteemed prize went to Mo Yan, a Chinese author – and the October 13^th installment of the Wall Street Journal Sentiment Tracker instantly seized the opportunity to gauge the reactions from social media users on Facebook and Twitter. 62% praised the author’s works, while 18% had mixed responses, and 20% cracked jokes – mostly about the author’s name, which is apparently a pen name meaning “Don’t Speak.” Check out some more of the jokes below:

Congratulations to Mo Yan on winning the Nobel prize.  I bet Curly and Larry are absolutely livid.

His friends call him “Yo, man!”

Mo Yan has won the Nobel, and you should read his amazing book about China, “Big Breasts and Wide Hips.”  Just, maybe not on the subway.

And in keeping with theme of reading – and mixed reviews – I was sad to see the news of Newsweek putting an end to its print publication and going all-digital after 80 years in business.   My cousin Sharon Beagly was the science editor there for years so I have always loved the publication. Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to hold a magazine or book made of paper in my hand, even though I am so digitally focused and environmentally friendly – so going paperless has me torn.  Based on the results from the October 20^th installment of the Wall Street Journal Sentiment Tracker, Facebook and Twitter users couldn’t decide either. 10% said they’ll miss the print version of Newsweek, while 9% said they wouldn’t miss it all. What they could agree on? 77% postulated on the digital future for the magazine and the many implications. And as always, there were some jokes – 4% in this case. Check out some of the extra jokes below:

#newsweek magazine is going away?!   But what willll peoplle read in the doctor’s office?!!!

RT @PhillyD: How most people found out about Newsweek killing its print publication and going all digital in 2013: the Internet.   #exactly

RT @ComedyCentral: #Newsweek is going all-digital.  Using it to kill spiders is going to get really expensive.

So what do you think of these developments? How has your reading experience changed as we become more and more digital? Let me know in the comments!

Lisa Joy Rosner

The Brand Passion Index, other cool ConsumerBase insights, and thoughts on understanding the social media universe from Lisa Joy Rosner, NetBase CMO.

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