For the past few years, the film-logging social media app ‘Letterboxd’ has exploded in popularity from its platform of devoted film fans to a mainstream audience. What started as a small project between co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow has now reportedly amassed over 17 million users. A 2021 article published by the Letterboxd Crew, titled āTurning Ten: A Decade on Letterboxdā, thanked its six million users at the time, showing how rapidly the platform has grown in just the past five years. It is fair to say that Gen-Z makes up most of this user base; the newness of a social media app de-centred from perfection and performance, and focused instead on hobbies, is exciting for many. I am one of those Gen-Z users who has found fun in the film community, and since joining I have noticed my own viewing habits change as Iāve used the app more, for better and for worse.
I first joined Letterboxd during the pandemic. Like many others, I was trying to find new ways to pass the time and keep myself sane. Watching films had once only been a way to quickly entertain myself or catch up on what people were talking about. However, when access to the outside world became so restricted, film became a form of escapism. Experiencing the lives of others in different places replaced human interaction. Eventually, one film led to another and I found myself wanting to be stimulated by what would be considered āart-houseā or āindieā cinema. Suddenly, a new understanding of what films could achieve opened up, and it seemed as though there were an infinite number of films that had been hiding from me until that point.
I canāt remember exactly how I discovered Letterboxd, though it was probably through another form of social media. Evidently, other people I had been following had also found escapism through film and needed somewhere to keep track of what they had been watching and what their thoughts were. Because of the pandemic, people were also finding new ways to connect with others through the internet. If you started following someone with similar film tastes and interests, their profile could be used as inspiration for what to watch next. Personally, I found the best recommendations through community-made lists, based aroundĀ themes or connections between different films, depending on mood, genre, or even film length.
Six years later, if it werenāt for finding this community of film fans, I donāt think I would have nearly as much interest in film as I do right now. Iām now partly studying film at university level, and every time my parents ask what I have been watching in film class each week and I tell them, they answer something along the lines of, āI havenāt heard of that oneā. My family mostly just watch whatever the latest blockbuster may be, and while I still have a soft spot for watching the latest Marvel movie and eating popcorn at the local Odeon, I also enjoy being able to indulge in the artistic films that would have once been reserved for the middle class and London-centric cinema-goers. In the age of AI and media misinformation, itās more important than ever to critically engage with all types of art. Being challenged by new and niche films can be part of that.
The Letterboxd review and rating system is definitely the appās most notable feature to the point where it has become somewhat of a meme. After years of placing the power of film criticism within the hands of professional critics, a filmās attention now lies in the hands of the general public. The democratisation of film criticism is polarising to say the least. The top Letterboxd reviews are usually funny one-liners that make some users chuckle and other users question whether the films are being taken seriously at all. Admittedly, these one-liner jokes can get quite repetitive and stale, but I donāt think Letterboxd ever advertised itself as a serious place for criticism and analysis. However, this then leaves the question of whether the performance of social media is even lost in hobby apps. If likes and follows are still counted and some users aim to get the most likes on their reviews by offering a quick laugh, how is this any different fromĀ the worst qualities of other social media sites?
This is where the challenge of Letterboxd and other āhobby loggingā sites comes in. Is it possible to keep up a social network free of performativity? There is still some element of competition left as to who can do their hobby best. In the case of Letterboxd, it can be who has watched the most films or who has the ābestā film taste (usually rooted in elitism). The book logging app Goodreads shares a similar problem. Every time I stumble upon a new personās profile, Iām stunned and jealous of how they can seemingly read so many books so quickly. Although these apps are theoretically a healthy space for hobby sharing and keeping track of the media that youāve engaged with, they can often leave the same sour and shallow feeling of competition and envy.
Looking back on this article, it may seem as if Iām taking my analysis and appreciation of Letterboxd too seriously, and that itās simply a fun way to keep a film diary and share it with friends. But, just as the influence of Instagram and Facebook on pop culture has been examined, I believe that the growing number of Letterboxd users is both a sign of our generationās preoccupation with online communities and the performativity of hobbies. I have developed my own interests and niche preoccupations within film further through Letterboxd and I cannotĀ imagine being exposed to so many incredible, enlightening films without the app. Still, it is important to step back and examine what unhealthy elements of social media competition are being perpetuated in these online spaces.