Current Influence of Book-Tok on Readers

 INTRODUCTION

Before we get into the article, we’ll ask the question, what is booktok? Booktok is an online community, where users share book reviews, recommendations and even discuss books among one another. It's very likely that you have encountered booktok one way or another, mainly through social media apps such as Tiktok, Instagram or even Youtube.  

THE REPEATING PATTERNS AND DOMINANCE 

Booktok is a very popular and loved community, and it has positive sides, as well as negative sides. By ‘sides’ I also mean influence. For example, the repeating pattern that seems to sell. If you were to go on booktok, you will see the same few books repeated over and over, such as ‘Fourth wing’, ‘Shatter me’, or ‘The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo’. Now I’m not saying that these are bad books, but rather frequently suggested books. These stories are popular for a reason, and can (and are)  enjoyed by many (or the majority).However the problem here isn't the books, but rather the lack of diversity (more on that later). The algorithm seems to favor a certain pool of genres, aesthetics, authors, and mainly tropes. 

If you spend a quality amount of time on Booktok, you’ll notice a pattern, a pattern of recommending books through Tropes. In most videos, it’ll always start with tropes, ‘Enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, forced proximity, or small town,’, rather than actually telling us what the book is about. Sometimes, that's the only thing they’ll say, with no mention of plot whatsoever. As a marketing strategy, this works, but when you actually read most (or even a few) of these books, we end up with awfully simple narrative, cardboard cut out characters, and an underdeveloped world. It's like they build the story only on tropes. Tropes are important to a story, being the fundamental genre conventions, but when there's nothing else but tropes, you get less immersive books.   

Speaking of repeated tropes, let's talk about another recurring pattern, the fact that the majority of the popular books are dominated by the exact same genre and writing style. ‘Romantasy’, ‘Enemies to lovers’, ‘NA’ (New Adult), and ‘First person perspective.’ Each of these genres are amazing, but it’s getting too repetitive. We see the same blend over and over, and sometimes NA books are often marketed as YA (Young Adult) books which leads to very unpleasant experiences. For example, ‘A court of thorns and roses’ or 'Throne of glass’ have often been advertised as YA. Books are being marketed by these main genres and styles, are often falsely marketed with these genres to intrigue readers. Books with different styles such as ‘Third person perspective’ are often overlooked or questioned.  

THE EXTENT OF OPINIONS 

Something that has to be addressed, is the extent of ‘opinions’. Believe it or not, but some authors are considered problematic, such as ‘Sarah J. Mass’, ‘Colleen Hoover’,  ‘H.D Carlton’, and their works have caused huge debates and division. Booktok has become a place where you may get attacked with threats (that go over the line), for your opinions about both authors and their works.  Depending on what side you end on, people will either defend or judge other people in an extreme way, even if these authors are problematic.  It depends on what side you end on, yes, but even if these authors are problematic, people tend to either defend or judge other people in an extreme way. In most cases there is a big debate on whether or not to separate the artist from the art. But regardless there should be a line that shouldn't be crossed when it comes to just ‘opinions’. 

HAULS 

This next influence can either be positive or negative considering how you view it, hauls. Hauls are fun, it’s when  goods are bought in quantities, in this case – books. Creators or booktokers often receive or buy books in mass. If you were to go on Youtube, you'll find that most book creators have huge shelves behind them filled with books they got from hauls. The reason? This could be for a number of things, either for appearances, joining the trends, or more. This sort of has a positive influence, since the creators often introduce less known or diverse books. However with the current flow of things, there seems to be mass over consumption of books in general, often leading to a longer TBR (To be read), and encourages more consumerism and materialism rather than genuine reading. It's often that people buy the same copy of the book, with just different versions each time leading to shallow content and once again–over consumption. Other creators have stated that they feel ‘pressure’ to try and keep up with these hauls, especially to spark viewer interest. 

CONCLUSION

Booktok isn’t a bad place, it’s still a space where people can share what they love, meet others with the same interests, and discover books. Yes, It has its ups and downs, positive and negative influence, but at the end of the day it’s a community built on reading. There will always be trends, debates, and even controversy, but it’s not just that for many people. Booktok is where they could find new communities, and connections.