BookTok is a subcommunity on the social media platform TikTok where readers share their favorite books, newest reads and encourage others to engage in reading culture. Originally, the community emphasized its positive ideas.

However, as the community began to grow, its influence extended beyond encouraging people to read. Despite its positive intentions, BookTok developed into a competitive platform where the number of books read is often celebrated more than the books themselves.

BookTok has made reading much more accessible, especially to a younger audience. Instead of reading being treated as a solitary hobby, reading has become something of open discussion.

A sense of community has been created, where people can talk about their excitement around literature and connect with others who may share those sentiments.

The BookTok community has also had an impact on the publishing industry as a whole. Increased sales and industry revenue have grown significantly in recent years, showing that BookTok can be a great marketing tool for an author or publisher.

However, the same influence that allows emerging authors to gain attention can also create an increasing dependency on online popularity.

Despite the positive influences on publishing, there have been negatives as well. Trends may be prioritized over originality, with popularity overshadowing the actual quality of novels. Unrealistic expectations for future authors may be set, while unequal exposure and algorithmic favoritism are evident throughout the industry. This influence does not stop at publishers. It extends to readers, shaping their expectations of what a book should offer and how they should engage with it.

There is nothing inherently wrong about putting down a book and being unable to finish it, whether that be because of lack of enjoyment or because it begins to feel like a chore. However, BookTok sometimes encourages an immediate judgment on a book; novels may be dismissed simply because they do not follow a specific trope. Social media has made many readers less willing to engage in a book that requires patience.

A challenging read can be useful and effective, but can also create an unnecessary pressure on someone who casually reads. Because of review websites such as Goodreads, readers may begin prioritizing finishing books over truly reading and appreciating them. This idea of a yearly reading goal was not established by the BookTok community, but has been reaffirmed by it. Because of this, books become numbers that contribute to an annual goal rather than something read out of enjoyment.

BookTok seems to be full of performative readers, meaning books are read purely as an aesthetic and as a status symbol. Do you seriously believe that someone is reading 25 books a month? More than 300 a year? If that were the case, those books would have been finished in a day, a day and a half at most.

Now, consider the fact that these books are first purchased to be read. When would someone have the time for work if they’re finishing an entire book in a day? That’s not to say it’s impossible, but it becomes unbelievable when the numbers get so high. It raises an interesting question about the purpose behind these accomplishments. When does reading stop being about enjoying a story and start becoming about having another title to add to a yearly total?

Reading for quantity over quality has a negative impact on a reader. It shifts the focus from enjoyment to achievement. It doesn’t leave room for reflection and diminishes the emotional impression a novel is meant to leave on you. Furthermore, prioritizing the amount of books read may cause a casual reader to compare themselves to someone reading for bragging rights. Someone may read 50 books throughout the year and feel incredibly accomplished, then see someone post about reading hundreds.

When reading becomes a comparative competition, it will no longer be something that is enjoyable. Reading is not inherently productive, nor does it have to be. Its value isn’t determined by how many books someone can finish in a set amount of time. Someone who reads five books and carries those stories with them may gain just as much, if not more, than someone who finished fifty and doesn’t take the time to appreciate them.

Readers should not feel invalidated because they read less. A community should uplift all its members, regardless of their respective accomplishments. Instead, BookTok can sometimes promote borderline excessive reading habits, encouraging others to measure their own accomplishments against those of others. In doing so, the community risks undermining the enjoyment of reading which originally brought its members together.

Reading does not have to be a competition. Reading can be fun and something you genuinely look forward to instead of feeling less than because you didn’t read 300 books this year. You do not have to compare yourself to performative readers and feel like the four books you read this year don’t equate to enough. Do what you love in the way that you love it.

Stop letting people ruin your hobbies by turning them into a competition.