BookTok is a word that can elicit surprising emotion. There are groups of people who hear the word and roll their eyes while others will be eager to start a conversation. No matter what camp you fall into, one thing is true — BookTok is good for America.
For those unfamiliar, BookTok refers to an online community on the app TikTok where people create and share content about the books they are reading.
This community has become so large, you can now find entire sections in most book stores dedicated to the category. BookTok is promoting reading to an audience that tends to lean younger, with most users of Tik Tok being Gen Alpha, Gen Z and Millennials.
In America, as of 2024, a whopping 21% of adults are illiterate (NLI). Of the 79% who are literate, almost half of them cannot read above a sixth grade level. Reading rates are plummeting further and further each year. In this state of literacy, any reading is good reading.
Beyond the fact that more young people reading is good, the sentiment that all BookTok books are garbage is not true. While not all of the books in the section are what you would describe as “great literature,” there are plenty of amazing novels. ‘Who Have Never Known Men,’ ‘A Little Life’ and ‘Normal People’ are all fantastic works and are considered cornerstones of the BookTok community.
One tremendously beneficial function of the community is the life that they breathe back into old books. Similar trends have been seen on Netflix where shows like ‘Suits’ and ‘Criminal Minds’ were catapulted back into the top-ten most viewed shows years after their runtime has ended.
Novels like ‘Lonesome Dove,’ ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘East of Eden’ have become trendy to read in recent years. Even the intellectually renowned Russian canon has been part of BookTok trends. Dostoevsky’s short story ‘White Nights’ and most recently Bulgakov’s ‘The Master and Margrettia’ have regained popularity
Those are some of the most renowned works of literature of all time. If you take a step back to look at all of the works under the BookTok banner, you will find that it is a beautiful mosaic of old and new. Books that encompass almost every genre from every corner of the world — that is the power of the internet and of BookTok.
The community it creates should not be understated. Reading in itself is a solitary activity; but that does not mean you have to enjoy the books you’re reading alone. Having a place where you can talk to other people who enjoy the same things you do, give recommendations and have debates only inflames the passion for reading.
The relationships you can make off of BookTok can lead to further exploration of new perspectives and opinions. It’s fun to read a book with a buddy or start a bookclub, both of which can make the reading experience more beneficial and hold you more accountable to actually read.
BookTok is here to stay. So, instead of looking at the few negatives the community brings, take a step back and look at the picture as a whole. If you do so, you will come to see that the good far outweighs the bad.
