I was always the little girl who stayed up way past her bedtime reading novels late into the night. If I was grumpy the next morning on the way to school, my parents instantly knew what I spent the night doing.
It was never out of rebellion. I simply was unable to remove myself from a book once I got into it. Unfortunately that bookworm trait didn't last long. By middle school, I had lost the drive to read entirely.
It wasn't until the summer before my first year at university that I picked up a book again. I never looked back from then on.
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| The Gazelle Illustrated by Alya Al Zaabi |
Creators will post book reviews, book hauls, bookshelf setups and everything in between.
There are creators for every genre you can imagine, but some have a heavier base than others. Romance and fantasy are two that BookTok has a heavy focus on. Some creators have even turned the phrase "Romantasy," a combination of the two, into a commonly used term.
@Mariannasreads, is an influencer with 450,000 followers. Her bio says she "enjoys screaming about words on paper," something most of her followers can relate to.
BookTokers, as those content creators are often referred to, have follower counts that range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands. @Cassiesbooktok has gained 3.1 million followers by posting humorous content relatable to fellow readers. These are just two examples of the hundreds of creators who have gained a following from their reading related posts.
"With BookTok, you kind of feel like you have your friends at your fingertips," said author Tessa Bailey.
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| The Guardian Screenshots from @alifeofliterature, @emilymiahreads and @kateslibrary |
These videos offer a place for people with similar interests to engage with each other with a few swipes of a finger. Readers can share excitement for new releases, express disappointment in endings or theorize about what certain books mean.
"Part of what makes BookTok special is that readers' taste and enthusiasm determine what goes viral on the algorithm," said Anahy Diaz, a journalist at Today.
The positive effect of BookTok reaches past those directly involved. Alongside the rise of the trend came a rise in sales.
According to Today News, data by NPD BookScan
claims 825 million books were sold in the U.S. in 2021, around the time
BookTok took flight, which is the highest number the company has seen
since 2004.
Barnes & Noble even has a section in store and online, for "the most popular TikTok books." This is evidence of the power this community has.
BookTok is a special example of how social media, regardless of its faults, can often bring people together.
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| WHNT Display at Barnes & Noble located in Hunstville, Alabama |
Very nice job on this. I like that you took the assignment in another direction. This is like a cultural trend piece in which you shed light on a phenomenon that has meant a lot to you and to millions of other people -- but something that a reader like me knew nothing about. Great work.
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