As a bookworm, I spend a significant amount of time watching TikTok content that pertains to books and reading – otherwise known as BookTok. As much as I love the BookTok community, it is hard to ignore the often not-so-subtle overconsumption that many of the videos promote. While critics of the consumerist culture believe that overconsumption on BookTok is a serious issue comparable to fast fashion, defenders argue that at least these trends get people into reading. While the emergence of BookTok does a lot of good for the literary landscape, the effects of overconsumption cannot be overlooked.
TikTok is a highly visual platform by nature and influencers aim to make their videos as aesthetically pleasing as possible to drive up engagement, and BookTok influencers are no exception. On BookTok, the pursuit of aesthetics takes the form of home libraries with walls upon walls of books, book hauls often consisting of more than ten books, and products related to reading such as scented candles and book sleeves. The consumer habits of readers are swayed by the influencers they look up to. Aiming to earn as much money as possible, publishers and other manufacturers continue to produce such products quickly and cheaply. Given the low prices of some of the products, many manufacturers don’t use good labour practices. All of this creates a vicious cycle of overconsumption.
Much of the content on BookTok centres around reading as many books in a short time as possible, equating reading more books to productivity and reading one book per day challenges. Adding the tendency for some genres such as romance and romantasy (fantasy romance) to overuse tropes to market books, BookTok has an ecosystem that encourages people to consume lots of books in their genre with little substance, resulting in quantity over quality. In the long run, overconsumption of low-quality literature leads to the literary landscape becoming more monotonous, with books having less substance.
Compared to buying fast fashion, buying books can feel guilt-free – a hobby that cultivates knowledge and wisdom. Some argue that by buying new books they are supporting authors and the publishing industry. However, there is a fine balance between overconsumption and letting the publishing industry die. To start, prioritise enjoyment and quality when buying books, over meeting arbitrary reading goals. Go a step further by using the library, buying second-hand, or borrowing books from friends and family.
Illustration by Lucy Keegan