The BookTok Community and Its Impact in the Online Space

How BookTok has been positively and negatively impacting its own community.

Written By: Dani Espinal

There is no doubt that there are two sides to social media. There is the side that can cause damage, exposing one to all of the negativity of the world. But then there is the side that offers community and advice to a person in their time of need. Specifically on Tiktok, there is a community labeled as “BookTok”. This is a community built entirely on people’s love for books and for reading. Seemingly simple enough and with the help of Ms. Teresa Gomez, we can figure out the effects, negative and positive, that the BookTok community created.

As I have been scrolling through Tiktok this year, I have seen a multitude of people discuss the overgrowing trend of “overconsumption” on the internet. There are some people who have decided that the best way to make views and gain traction is to make it a trend to buy ridiculous amounts of things that perform the same functions. There are plenty of “booktokers” who fall under this category. Scroll through the tags and they can be found easily, identified holding bags full of merchandise or even several overflowing bookshelves in the background of the videos. They show off their hauls of books and when scrolling through the pages, you end up losing count of how many booktokers are filming themselves pulling out multiples of the same books from their shopping bags and delivery boxes. When these people are reminded that libraries do exist and often have the majority of the trending books for free, the argument that you hear the most often is that those books just aren’t as good as having them at home. To an extent, I can agree with that. And unfortunately, most people can agree that it is not as satisfying to watch an influencer bring a handful of books home as it is to see one completely fill rows of shelves in one go. There are so many people whose accounts are just of them purchasing loads of books. While they do explain what they purchased and the reasons why they made their choices, most are very shallow reasons, such as pretty book covers and the author’s reputation. They also tend to bring home so much more than they are able to consume. When asked about her own growing collection of books, Teresa had this to say: “I don’t even like buying those special editions, it’s just a fun rush to go to the store, come home with a big stack of books, and see how they look added to my collection.”

On average, people are typically able to read about 20 pages per hour. Assuming they have to sleep for 8 hours in a day and do absolutely nothing but read for the remaining 16 hours, that is 320 pages per day. That would equate to 7 300-page books per week. This can only happen if the average person were reading for the full 16 hours per day. There are also the people who buy multiple copies of one book just so that they can collect all of the special editions. Yes, of course the argument can be made that the sprayed edges and decorated covers are beautiful. However, it is hard to see the worth in the purchase when you already have 3 other special editions on the shelf. Ones that may never be opened if the buyer purchased it after already reading the original cover version and chooses not to reread.

Even though it has its faults, BookTok truly has become a community to so many. Personally, scrolling through the BookTok hashtag on Tiktok has become a highlight of my days. This is because of the amount of creativity those in the community have. So many people have created accounts just to give suggestions for next reads, share their reviews, and even promote their own stories. Having an entire community of so many like-minded people has made the reading experience so much more interesting. Experiencing a book slump or just can’t seem to get off the phone to read the book you’ve been dying to get your hands on? No worries! Through BookTok, you can find about 10 other people dealing with the same problem. They all have tips and tricks to get out of it! Running around the bookstore or library, so overwhelmed that you can’t make a decision? It’s okay! Your favorite booktoker has already made a post describing a new release that has made her drop anything that could distract her from reading it, you should give it a try! Teresa describes the community as being a place to bounce ideas back and forth. “The beauty of BookTok is being able to put out a thought or idea of a current read and getting responses from people who know exactly where you’re coming from, even if they agree or disagree.”

In a world where it is so difficult to make a room of people all look up from their phones at the same time, I think that it is so refreshing to see something as simple as reading being advertised as a gentle alternative. When I was growing up, before every kid in class had their own cellphone, before the class lessons became dependent on every student having a iPad or chromebook, we were all encouraged to read. Starting when I was in elementary school and ending when I left middle school, my school district forced its students to have one class period a week where we did nothing but read. The teachers made us take home book logs and come back to class the next week with at least one book title and a short summary and what we

liked most about the book(s). I was not the girl that needed to be told twice to take out my book and read silently. No teacher ever had to help me find my next book or convince me that reading could be fun. In fact, I was the student whose book had to be taken in the middle of class due to my reading during class, only to get into trouble again a few minutes later for having a second book out. While lost for quite some time, this ability to keep on persisting has returned stronger than ever. 

Another way that BookTok has been improving lives is how it teaches people to have hobbies off of their phones. We all know how people's screen times are an issue these days. It is not uncommon for a person to check their phone’s screentime and find out they have spent 6 or more hours of their day scrolling through their social media apps or playing repetitive games. While BookTok does take place over social media, it actually encourages people to get off of their devices to pick up a book. The romanticization of aesthetically being a reader has influenced people to live their lives similarly: to immerse yourself in the world of reading and to not allow the real world to distract you from that. It is not just the books themselves, it is the way that the people on BookTok express their love for their books and share that with their community. There are so many people who make multiple lists of books that they believe “people should read at least once in their life.” They  do this because they themselves have read the books and felt so moved that everyone else needs to know that feeling too. When someone is not posting a review of what they read or suggestions, you can find them sharing their lives on their page: posting bag tours which are overflowing with their most current reads, pens, journals, sticky notes, etc. A person might post a simple vlog, one not even related to BookTok, however you can still see the piles of books and the full shelves in the background as the person moves the camera around. Even off camera and in the real world, there has always been something so charming about seeing a person take out a book while they wait rather than resort to using their phone to pass time. Like a sweet reminder that the people involved in the community are not just accounts, they are real people who live out the stories that they tell.

Through Booktok, people have been able to find a community that is constantly growing and changing. One large enough to support entirely different niches and topics. The magnitude of such a community means that nobody is getting left behind, and certainly nobody can be ostracized for a less than popular opinion since there are still hundreds of people within the community who share the same sentiment. While it is important to recognize that Booktok, like many groups on Tiktok, has its issues that need to be addressed, it can still be acknowledged for the good that it brings to the people within.