It is no secret that, in the literary world, writers and readers love sharing their considerations of various novels. In the past, book clubs or critical write-ups were the primary methods, but the development of the internet and social media enables opinionated dialogue to expand globally. From Booktube to Bookstagram, there are now new spaces for book lovers to gather and share their literary favorites on their preferred platforms. Consequently, readers and writers continuously debate whether social media communities foster useful conversation, including the quickly growing literary community on the emerging social media juggernaut TikTok.
Why You Should Adopt BookTok
In critically Acclaimed author Leigh Stein’s article, “BookTok is Good, Actually: On the Undersung Joys of a Vast and Multifarious Platform,” Stein reports how BookTok is helping members of the literary community. Stein’s deep dive into the BookTok community begins by presenting the stereotypical view of BookTok as “Shallow, fake, showy, and performative” but Stein rebuttals that the readers on BookTok “aren’t seeking the approval of New Yorker subscribers.” In doing so, Stein loosely conceptualizes an ongoing issue in the literary community. This issue is that many literary scholars regard tradition as more favorable and can be summed up by scholar Thomas Leitch who states: “Entrenched representational forms have always greeted new rivals with a suspicion amounting to hostility.
This pretentious tendency of novel enthusiasts who prefer the book over the movie parallels those who prefer the opinion of New Yorker critics to reviews on BookTok simply based on the false sense of superiority of old forms of literary discourse. Ultimately, Stein expands her ideas about the capabilities of BookTok by sharing the story of college senior Elvir Belardi as “Multiple literary agents...[showed] interest in his work” due to his activity on BookTok (Stein). Stein argues a unique perspective by examining the ways in which the internet has broadened a writer’s horizons. BookTok could be a valuable tool for people to engage with and encourage learning in a variety of ways; however, not everyone sees it this way.
Why You Shouldn’t Adopt BookTok
While BookTok is an exceptional place full of possibilities for some, especially those who’ve had success on the platform, others can perceive it differently. For instance, lifestyle blogger Habiba Katsha’s article for the Huffington Post, “TikTok’s Book Influencers are Sucking the Joy Out of Reading,” does not have quite the same idealistic view of BookTok as Stein’s. Katsha has a relationship with books stating, “As a writer, books inspire me but as a normal person, I take great pleasure in just reading a good book.” It would seem fitting that, as a reader, she would find solace in BookTok, but somehow, the opposite is true. According to Katsha, there is an issue with the content of BookTok in that it seems to mainly concern the rate books are being read. Katsha reveals, “I felt I was flawed when I saw people on TikTok sharing how they’d read 10 to 20 books that month alone, as if it was nothing.” Like Katsha, many people may find this intimidating.
It is ultimately your decision whether you want to explore this side of a social media platform. It could foster your learning and give you great recommendations or make you feel inferior.
Either way, every community on social media is a beast, and in contemporary times, one must be media literate enough to know how to consume content and messages on these platforms intentionally.
Social Justice BookTokers
If you decide to try BookTok, here are some people who recommend books focusing on social justice and social issues or by diverse authors. They are a great place to start if you're searching for books and essays to diversify and expand your knowledge!
