As we all know, the internet revolucionized the ways of seeing everything: our hobbies, work, music, and even concerts. This was no different for books and reading.
With Youtube, Instagram, Twitter (X), Reddit and other socials, people started to share, beyond just those who were in their circle, but also with those who followed them online. TikTok came to change the way you see content. With short videos, viral audios and creators that gained millions of followers quickly, people started to turn their hobbies into content — and one of them is reading.
When BookTok became a popular niche, a lot of people who already produced content about books migrated to the platform, while a lot of new creators also started to emerge.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, a time where everyone was at home with not much to do, lots of people developed the habit of reading, mainly influenced by these trends. It was like reading wasn’t just a hobby or an activity, but an aesthetic.
To make it more clear, an aesthetic is something visually or sensorially pleasing, harmonious, or expressive of a particular vibe. But even though the meaning refers to good things, all this search for a perfect and aesthetic vibe can make people join things only for the image.
So, as book content producers started to gain more attention and go viral, BookTok showed people that reading was more than just the books themselves. To read is an experience.
When book creators posted that they had bought color-coded tabs to highlight their favorite reading moments, as well as invest in expensive bookshelves and decorated pens for annotations while they’re reading, an aesthetic was created. And if you didn’t have all those things, you’re missing out on a big part of your reading experience. At this time, the BookTok users started to consume more of those products just to match the aesthetic of reading.
Romance, drama and suspense books, which tend to offer beloved characters and plot-twist driven stories, began to be the ones people were most influenced to read by the platform, and content creators knew their followers were going to engage, so betting on this formula was certain.
But, like all things, picking up a habit of reading can have its own good and bad sides. As it started in the pandemic, a lot of teenagers grew up already having the habit of reading. For the book industry, it was a perfect time to publish new books and to explore new authors, especially of these genres mentioned before.
However, the biggest downside to this trend is the risk of overconsumption and superficial engagement. When reading becomes purely about social media validation, the pressure to buy every trending book related — only to leave it untouched on a shelf — can turn a meaningful passion into fast-paced consumerism.
Lately, while the “reading aesthetic” transformed books into visual lifestyle symbols, it also succeeded in making literature exciting again for a digital generation. The key for readers is to enjoy the beautiful visuals without forgetting that the true essence of a book lies in its words, not its aesthetic.
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The article above was edited by Sarah Pizarro.
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