Ask HN: Anyone highlight text as they read?

I don’t but I know plenty of people who do.

Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1271/

Yes. I usually triple click to select the line/paragraph I'm on. If some site fucks with that setting, I try to disable most of their javascript with the "Absolute Enable Right Click And Copy" add-on's "Absolute Mode" and if that doesn't work I close the site.

Definitely. Especially if the text has too low of contrast in the browser, and highlighting makes it easier on my old eyeballs.

(Or, as xkcd suggests, sometimes as an idle sort of finger-twiddling.)

Yup, all the time. Recently I've been using reader mode in Edge and it has a "line focus" which highlights 1, 3, or 5 lines as you scroll. I'm finding works just as well for me, but I still highlight outside of that.

Constantly

Can someone recomend a good Chrome plugin for highlighting web content?

I do it all the time or just move the page slightly if I'm reading a PDF. Don't know why but some who it helps makes reading quicker

I do.

Except on sites like Medium where if you click anything it highjacks the selection and gives you a bunch of nonsense. For example this article on the front page right now:

https://medium.com/enzymit-log/why-enzymit-decided-to-build-...

Try selecting text.

I don't. But I find reading longer, complicated texts on a vertical screen tiring and not good for understanding it. Reading books or somewhat surprisingly also on my small mobile phone feels just better.

I have the same habit too and went as far as making a highlighter for myself to use [1]. (Sorry for the shameless plug)

[1]: https://github.com/huytd/highl.it

Yep, very much.

I think it's a fidget of sorts, to generate stimulation. I guess in order to help stay focused reading blocks of text. If I'm not randomly selecting bits as I read I might be reading it aloud. Otherwise I might loose my focus, resulting in rereading bits more than I need to, or just falling off finishing it.

I do the same thing. It annoys the hell out of people if they’re reading with me.

Funny enough tho, I hate highlighting actual paper text, i never understood the point of that

Triple click.

I don't highlight in real time what I'm reading but I use it as a bookmark if I need to take my eyes away from the screen or step away from my computer. I also sometimes highlight as I go in a long article proactively so if I need to look away I've "saved my spot". I hate when sites pop up a share UI or similar when I highlight, I never want to do that and if I do want to share I'll just copy/paste it, not use your "tools".

I regularly underline in the books I read, with ruler and pencil. When it comes to instructions and rules, I underline and highlight.

Sorry for this question. Is it possible to highlight a part of a text somewhere in a web page, copy it, paste it somewhere else in a word processor as a quote/hyperlink and when you click on it you end up exactly where the quote is on the web page ?

Yea and I use my tool Yawas Highlighter to highlight web pages on my browser or iOS https://www.appblit.com/yawas

I will highlight once in a while, but only a particular sentence or phrase that I want to sit back and focus on for a moment.

Another quirk I've noticed is that I always scroll more than necessary while reading. It feels odd to have the text I've just read sitting at the top of the screen, so I scroll down to get it out of my view. Maybe it's an ergonomic preference; it feels better to look at the top of the screen rather of the lower half (I work on a laptop with no stand). Whenever I am sharing focus on a screen with someone and I notice they are reading all of the visible text on the screen before scrolling, I realize how particular my habit is.

I made a mac tool to do this for both web pages and files. Every time I mention it's name on HN, my account gets deleted. Sigh!

I do it all the time and have been doing it as long as I can remember. I couldn't tell you why, but as others have pointed out it annoys the crap out of people when they're trying to read with me.

I do it, usually when I'm focused and really trying to understand the text. Don't know when I started, feels like it's always been like this.

Sometimes when I use multiple monitors and have several windows open, I select text so I don't lose my place when reading. I wish the colors of the letters would not change color when selected.

  *::selection {
    background: yellow;
    color: inherit;
  }

Yes. All the time. My co workers probably find me maddening in a collaborative google doc.

I do often select text to nôt to lose my progres

I've never actually thought to do this but its kind of genius.