Most of us literary fanatics have been there: scrolling on our phones, coming across book recommendations, or perhaps perusing a bookshop and either being drawn in or repulsed by a “What BookTok Is Reading” sign. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, it is hard to ignore this phenomenon, and everyone seems to have an opinion on it.
The internet’s influence on what we read has been around for as long as I can remember. As a tween, I would pick out books in WHSmith based on Zoella’s book club recommendations. A decade ago, in 2016, life was full of celebrity book clubs, and it wasn’t just Zoella handing out recommendations. Stars like Emma Watson and Florence Welch were also taking to Twitter to share their reading recommendations. Like BookTok, these were effective ways of getting involved in young people’s reading choices, as YouTubers and online personalities crafted their lives and reading habits into something that seemed cosy, aesthetic, and aspirational.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought people indoors and onto their phones more than ever, and one of the biggest things to emerge from this was the rise of BookTok. Creators such as Ayman Chaudhary, Jack Edwards, and Larry Reads helped lead the charge, posting visceral reactions and recommendations and even being credited with selling out certain books. Alongside the infamous Colleen Hoover, writers such as Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sarah J. Maas, and Ali Hazelwood also blew up across platforms as readers became invested in their fictional worlds, romance novels, and accompanying lore.
Speaking to students on campus, opinions seemed divided on the platform. Many seemed to remember their peak BookTok eras fondly, saying, “There was once a time when it was the only way I was discovering books” and “In 2020 and 2022, it was all the rage.” However, attitudes seem to have shifted today, with others saying, “As soon as I stopped engaging with it, all the books recommended were terrible.” Colleen Hoover in particular seemed to be a sticking point, with comments such as “Verity was my last straw” and “It Ends With Us was so bad.”
A lot of the reason this kind of content has always seemed so appealing is that it goes beyond simply the books themselves, encompassing multiple aspects of lifestyle to sell these stories to us. Books are often pictured alongside outfits, coffee shops, and aspirational lifestyles, all to make the social media content more engaging. Bookshops, cafés and landmarks, particularly those in Edinburgh, have become destination spots off the back of just a few famous TikToks of people reading in them. Brands are also all too aware of the influence of books on branding and celebrity image. Think Jacob Elordi filling up his car while performatively reading a book. Many have since started incorporating this kind of imagery into their advertising campaigns.
This leads us into the world of book marketing we see today, which is no longer exclusively built around people who have constructed their content and following around books. Instead, celebrities have increasingly entered the industry. Dua Lipa is probably the most famous example, with her book club gaining attention not just for its recommendations but also for her insights and interviews with guests such as Margaret Atwood. Kaia Gerber, Laufey, and Oprah have all followed suit, helping to promote diverse and less widely recognised books and giving independent publishers a platform alongside the larger publishing houses.
However, it is still hard to escape BookTok’s influence. Recent years have seen a significant shift towards transforming BookTok sensations into films and television shows. Colleen Hoover has had three of her novels adapted, with major Hollywood stars such as Anne Hathaway, Blake Lively, and Dakota Johnson taking on starring roles. Beyond Hoover’s work, BookTok sensation Heated Rivalry has also taken off this year across television and TikTok. For anyone else who attended the Fringe, it received plenty of mentions and parodies, cementing its place in popular culture. We seem to be moving towards a world where beloved lockdown classics are returning, this time on our screens, and they are clearly just as popular as ever, whether with younger audiences discovering the material for the first time or those who feel a sense of nostalgia for that lockdown period.
Ultimately, social media continues to play a huge part in what we read and consume. Whether you get your recommendations from a celebrity Instagram post, a book club or a TikTok slideshow suggesting your next read based on your summer destination, most of us will admit that social media has, at some point, played a part in what we pick up.
Personally, I think that as long as young people are being encouraged to read and think critically about what they consume, social media can only be doing more good than harm. Is it really that serious if people have to read a few frogs before finding their prince?
“WSC library book display: #Booktok Made Me Read It!” by ali eminov is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
