In a time of significant change, it can be useful to explore what remains constant in literate behaviours. This article follows Oatley's suggestion that looking at the psychological function of a literate event is more productive than worrying about the analogue/digital divide. Starting with the activity of learning to read, it investigates recreational reading, literary reading and Wolf's concept of deep reading, looks at how any of these may be enhanced by a critical perspective, and contrasts them all with the conversational reading of social media.