Aside from agreeing with everything you said about romantasy and booktok books, I feel like a lot of the people defending it as "oh but it had such a positive impact on reading and publishing" are missing the biggest criticism of all and one I hope they can agree with, and this is also my biggest gripe with booktok as well Regardless of the impact, it's 99% white cishet authors writing white cishet romance. The booktok tables have so little diversity both in terms of representation, let alone story and characters. I just hate that so many booktokers are unwilling to read more diversely. I have seen so many comments from people and I do feel like there is rampant toxicity that booktokers and apologists refuse to acknowledge. I have seen so many comments on and off the platform who defend booktok books saying things from "I don't wanna read about a bunch of ugly people falling in love" to "I don't wanna read books where most of the characters are women."
People love to hate on booktok but its undeniable how much of a positive impact its had on the publishing industry, authors, small businesses etc. Also people love to forget that the issues on booktok have existed in the online book community for an extremely long time but the rapid growth and way tiktok works has only made these issue grow quicker and more extreme. I know thats a very unpopular opinion but I was on Tumblr during its prime I remember
I absolutely agree. However, it's also undeniable booktok seriously fails when it comes to using that awesome power to uplift marginalized voices and spread the word about books with more marginalized authors and main characters. Most booktok recs and booktok shelves in stores, they are mostly featuring white cishet authors and/or white cishet main characters. Worse yet, I have seen booktokers and readers say things from "I don't wanna read about a bunch of ugly people falling in love" to downright "I don't wanna read books where most of the characters are women." But you do make a very good point, a lot of these issues have existed way before tiktok, they're just more obvious now.
I think after booktok shuts down the number of readers will decline, bcs imo, tiktok treats books like a trend,every week we have a new mid book to obsess over,and we don't see this on booktube, also most people nowadays are not into long content that youtube provides, so they will just give up on the hobby all together, or they won't be as intersted as before.
I appreciate you highlighting the positives of Booktok because I don't use it. Thanks for pointing out that it shined a light on lesser-known indie authors and introduced you to SFF with a Black woman protagonist. You got me out of my bubble 😂
I imagine non-US booktok will go on. The Wattpad publications in my country are booming and getting movie adaptations. So that's one thing locals here can focus on. And US publishers will prob continue promoting on there anyway. American booktok influencers/community will move to another site, maybe others will follow. Like when Twitter was bought and people flooded Tumblr. I wonder if they'll move to RUclips.
That's a good point honestly. A lot of people wanna keep saying that books and politics don't mix, and will be STUNNED to find many of their fav, including smut and dark romances, will be pulled from the shelves
I have noticed more people are readers now. A very popular spot in my city is a local bookstore(they are very unique, and even you don't read, they still enjoy visiting the store). And even with my library, booktok has helped alot. My library stats increase alot that they had to remove hoopla cause it got too expensive from higher usage.
also the same with manga lmaooo back then it was tough reading manga and i always felt so judged going into that section but all of a sudden i am beating people back for room to look, having to wait forever to get volumes in person, and having manga that no one i talk to knows but suddenly it has a little b&n shelf section? crazy. even then, the most popular manga get special display sections and are super well stocked and the ones i want//not as popular are gathering dust on the shelves + are lowkey damaged a lot of the time+ have the same volumes as before ((meaning vol 1, 4, 5 or something)) which makes new manga readers hesitant to pick it up since it's obvious that it isnt well stocked similar for books, though a but different for me since i don't really read books that are marketed as romance. some series as well or stand alones, i suddenly hear a few people talk about them//see them in jn the background on their shelves. i will say it sucks sometimes, however, when books are anticipated as booktok popular or have a prequel//author that is booktok famous meaning that it immediately gets a special edition. the sequel to the the house in the cerulean sea came out and it only had a special edition hardcover. not only were the edges sprayed but they were sprayed in a mustard-y yellow color when it could have looked so much nicer had it matched one of the other colors on the cover that were more predominantly shown. but it was the _only_ edition and i love the author + book so i bought it. and it isn't the only book getting special covers and sprayed edges, but it felt like a weird cash grab, esp since so many booktokers + booktubers are discussing how many versions of the book they have ((paperback, hardcover, fairyloot special edition, illumicrate special edition, b&n special edition, etc)) or how they want the us vs uk edition
I was an avid reader in highschool and I completely disregarded it for new hobbies (which ironically, one of those hobbies was 'writing').. I just started reading again this year and I feel like Troy returning with the pizza in Community. I'm not a part of booktok, but judging by what I see, if booktok gets shut down, theyll just find a space in another app (most likely instagram). As a now aspiring author, I'm a bit sad I may miss out on connections through booktok. I havent been able to really digest the book community as it is now; I only had my highschool classmates and the book table at Costco to fuel my passion for books. Reading for me was encouraged in my peer groups, so my experience is a bit different than most I think. Maybe tiktok shutting down means that there will be a new gap for returning and newer users in whatever platform takes its place.
Omg you hit the nail on the head with some of my gripes with TikTok! I found a tweet on twitter the other day where someone said a lot of smut readers just have pornography addictions and don’t actually want to read and it’s so true! Too often now have I found that authors just want to write the most insane sex scenes they can because it will go viral, rather than writing good sex scenes that fit the stories or make sense against the plot. Like how far is too far at this point? Bring back actual romance stories where the characters actually have depth and emotion and they pine after each other so intensely. I’m so over reading spicy scenes that are just chucked into the story for no reason other than shock value. AND the industry needs to give booktubers their flowers man!!!!!!! They have been holding down the reader space before TikTok ever did and they just get overlooked. It really bugs me
I have a problem with this argument: at what cost? Despite reading, they don't want to challenge themselves to read something better, different, or more challenging and their reading comprehension skills are very poor. Reading a lot is important, but it should be encouraged and accompanied with good reading habits. It shouldn't be about quantity, but about quality.
@ I’m sure at some point someone who is an avid reader and lets say, “only reads booktok recs” is going to stumble upon a novel by Donna Tartt or Elena Ferrante. And if they don’t, it’s really not the end of the world. Let people read what they want to read. It’s similar to allowing people to watch whatever films they want to consume… they are both forms of media. It’s not like they are hurting anyone. I really wish we could stop having hierarchies about the types of literature we consume. like “oh I’m so fancy I only read Fitzgerald & John Williams” like yes, I do believe it’s good to criticize a book that is written well or not but we should not act like we are better bc we don’t take take book tok recs…
@@sundaysareforreading your comment feels exaggerated and it’s taking out of context mine. That’s totally not what I tried to say. And then we complain about media literacy…😬 at the same time I never said people were not allowed to consume what they wanted, however I do believe we have to be critical of what we consume even what we consume for pure enjoyment.
@@deniseperez7007You're not wrong but there's not much to be done for people who don't want to put any critical thinking towards what they are reading. People can maybe try to steer those people to books that engage their brain, outlook or just have them consider what they are taking in but there are levels to everything and some don't want to go beyond where they are at or they just don't care. I'm in the camp of thank goodness more people are reading but I just keep it pushing. People gonna people whether it's with books, music or film.
@@deniseperez7007Do you think once booktok is gone people will no longer read "lesser" books? They'll find them by talking online, through libraries, by reviewing articles ect.. none of the cons of reading these books will go away with booktok; Some People will always refuse to challenge themselves. Infact, if they let go reading completely all its going to do is break away a possibility of change.
An adult sci-fi with a black girl as the main character? I need to get in touch with you when my series is done! (Throw in action-adventure and two love interests and you've described it perfectly!) 😀
As a totally blind author unfortunately Tik Tok has always been and continues to be inaccessible to me. So whatever might happen I hope that it's a little bit more user-friendly to people with vision impairments.
Im not on tiktok so idk about booktok but Ik there’s artists (singers) that wouldn’t be famous bc of tiktok, so Ik it can have a huge influence on things .
omg your comment on douglas being on berkley not not believing it made me laugh out loud, i feel the same way. berkley is my fav romance imprint and a couple things ive seen them pick up have me like 💀💀💀
the books that have been popular or with a set fanbase having the credit given to booktok literally is such a big thing like the locked tomb books ive seen there sometimes but that is a tumblr darling
@shhd2105 as a non-American, I completely forgot about that! I don't use it either way, but a lot of issues have come up there that I silently observed.
I might consider using the word commentary over essay if you wanna avoid the confusion! “essay” tends to sound more formally researched, rather than a discussion. loved this vid, excited to see what else u post🤍
Consent!!! Thank you for bringing this topic up! Genuinely, consent is a subject that is applicable to human rights, also books though too!
Aside from agreeing with everything you said about romantasy and booktok books, I feel like a lot of the people defending it as "oh but it had such a positive impact on reading and publishing" are missing the biggest criticism of all and one I hope they can agree with, and this is also my biggest gripe with booktok as well
Regardless of the impact, it's 99% white cishet authors writing white cishet romance. The booktok tables have so little diversity both in terms of representation, let alone story and characters. I just hate that so many booktokers are unwilling to read more diversely.
I have seen so many comments from people and I do feel like there is rampant toxicity that booktokers and apologists refuse to acknowledge. I have seen so many comments on and off the platform who defend booktok books saying things from "I don't wanna read about a bunch of ugly people falling in love" to "I don't wanna read books where most of the characters are women."
People love to hate on booktok but its undeniable how much of a positive impact its had on the publishing industry, authors, small businesses etc.
Also people love to forget that the issues on booktok have existed in the online book community for an extremely long time but the rapid growth and way tiktok works has only made these issue grow quicker and more extreme. I know thats a very unpopular opinion but I was on Tumblr during its prime I remember
Yup.
I absolutely agree. However, it's also undeniable booktok seriously fails when it comes to using that awesome power to uplift marginalized voices and spread the word about books with more marginalized authors and main characters. Most booktok recs and booktok shelves in stores, they are mostly featuring white cishet authors and/or white cishet main characters. Worse yet, I have seen booktokers and readers say things from "I don't wanna read about a bunch of ugly people falling in love" to downright "I don't wanna read books where most of the characters are women."
But you do make a very good point, a lot of these issues have existed way before tiktok, they're just more obvious now.
I think after booktok shuts down the number of readers will decline, bcs imo, tiktok treats books like a trend,every week we have a new mid book to obsess over,and we don't see this on booktube, also most people nowadays are not into long content that youtube provides, so they will just give up on the hobby all together, or they won't be as intersted as before.
I appreciate you highlighting the positives of Booktok because I don't use it. Thanks for pointing out that it shined a light on lesser-known indie authors and introduced you to SFF with a Black woman protagonist. You got me out of my bubble 😂
I imagine non-US booktok will go on. The Wattpad publications in my country are booming and getting movie adaptations. So that's one thing locals here can focus on. And US publishers will prob continue promoting on there anyway. American booktok influencers/community will move to another site, maybe others will follow. Like when Twitter was bought and people flooded Tumblr. I wonder if they'll move to RUclips.
That's a good point honestly. A lot of people wanna keep saying that books and politics don't mix, and will be STUNNED to find many of their fav, including smut and dark romances, will be pulled from the shelves
Great video Myo! The Gilded Ones series is a great afro-futuristic series, plus there’s some romance in the series.
“Hello beautiful friends” hello beautiful Myonna (; I’m sending you love❤
🫶🏾
@ 💜💜💜
I have noticed more people are readers now. A very popular spot in my city is a local bookstore(they are very unique, and even you don't read, they still enjoy visiting the store). And even with my library, booktok has helped alot. My library stats increase alot that they had to remove hoopla cause it got too expensive from higher usage.
If TikTok really does go away, think booktok will switch over to Instagram reels more.
As always Myo, great video
also the same with manga lmaooo
back then it was tough reading manga and i always felt so judged going into that section but all of a sudden i am beating people back for room to look, having to wait forever to get volumes in person, and having manga that no one i talk to knows but suddenly it has a little b&n shelf section? crazy. even then, the most popular manga get special display sections and are super well stocked and the ones i want//not as popular are gathering dust on the shelves + are lowkey damaged a lot of the time+ have the same volumes as before ((meaning vol 1, 4, 5 or something)) which makes new manga readers hesitant to pick it up since it's obvious that it isnt well stocked
similar for books, though a but different for me since i don't really read books that are marketed as romance. some series as well or stand alones, i suddenly hear a few people talk about them//see them in jn the background on their shelves.
i will say it sucks sometimes, however, when books are anticipated as booktok popular or have a prequel//author that is booktok famous meaning that it immediately gets a special edition. the sequel to the the house in the cerulean sea came out and it only had a special edition hardcover. not only were the edges sprayed but they were sprayed in a mustard-y yellow color when it could have looked so much nicer had it matched one of the other colors on the cover that were more predominantly shown. but it was the _only_ edition and i love the author + book so i bought it. and it isn't the only book getting special covers and sprayed edges, but it felt like a weird cash grab, esp since so many booktokers + booktubers are discussing how many versions of the book they have ((paperback, hardcover, fairyloot special edition, illumicrate special edition, b&n special edition, etc)) or how they want the us vs uk edition
I love your videos so much. I’m so happy you’re beginning to get the recognition you deserve 💗
this is so sweet 🥺 thank you
I was an avid reader in highschool and I completely disregarded it for new hobbies (which ironically, one of those hobbies was 'writing').. I just started reading again this year and I feel like Troy returning with the pizza in Community. I'm not a part of booktok, but judging by what I see, if booktok gets shut down, theyll just find a space in another app (most likely instagram).
As a now aspiring author, I'm a bit sad I may miss out on connections through booktok. I havent been able to really digest the book community as it is now; I only had my highschool classmates and the book table at Costco to fuel my passion for books. Reading for me was encouraged in my peer groups, so my experience is a bit different than most I think.
Maybe tiktok shutting down means that there will be a new gap for returning and newer users in whatever platform takes its place.
Omg you hit the nail on the head with some of my gripes with TikTok! I found a tweet on twitter the other day where someone said a lot of smut readers just have pornography addictions and don’t actually want to read and it’s so true! Too often now have I found that authors just want to write the most insane sex scenes they can because it will go viral, rather than writing good sex scenes that fit the stories or make sense against the plot. Like how far is too far at this point? Bring back actual romance stories where the characters actually have depth and emotion and they pine after each other so intensely. I’m so over reading spicy scenes that are just chucked into the story for no reason other than shock value. AND the industry needs to give booktubers their flowers man!!!!!!! They have been holding down the reader space before TikTok ever did and they just get overlooked. It really bugs me
Wooo new video!! Love the consistency 😋💗
i’m always consistent! i just take a break the last week of the month 😭
I hope booktok doesn’t leave. I just started my tik tok 2 days ago and the views are crazy compared to RUclips
I’m not on booktok but I hope it never goes away. Even if people aren’t reading diversely as they should at least ppl r reading.
I have a problem with this argument: at what cost?
Despite reading, they don't want to challenge themselves to read something better, different, or more challenging and their reading comprehension skills are very poor.
Reading a lot is important, but it should be encouraged and accompanied with good reading habits. It shouldn't be about quantity, but about quality.
@ I’m sure at some point someone who is an avid reader and lets say, “only reads booktok recs” is going to stumble upon a novel by Donna Tartt or Elena Ferrante. And if they don’t, it’s really not the end of the world. Let people read what they want to read. It’s similar to allowing people to watch whatever films they want to consume… they are both forms of media. It’s not like they are hurting anyone. I really wish we could stop having hierarchies about the types of literature we consume. like “oh I’m so fancy I only read Fitzgerald & John Williams” like yes, I do believe it’s good to criticize a book that is written well or not but we should not act like we are better bc we don’t take take book tok recs…
@@sundaysareforreading your comment feels exaggerated and it’s taking out of context mine. That’s totally not what I tried to say. And then we complain about media literacy…😬 at the same time I never said people were not allowed to consume what they wanted, however I do believe we have to be critical of what we consume even what we consume for pure enjoyment.
@@deniseperez7007You're not wrong but there's not much to be done for people who don't want to put any critical thinking towards what they are reading. People can maybe try to steer those people to books that engage their brain, outlook or just have them consider what they are taking in but there are levels to everything and some don't want to go beyond where they are at or they just don't care.
I'm in the camp of thank goodness more people are reading but I just keep it pushing. People gonna people whether it's with books, music or film.
@@deniseperez7007Do you think once booktok is gone people will no longer read "lesser" books? They'll find them by talking online, through libraries, by reviewing articles ect.. none of the cons of reading these books will go away with booktok; Some People will always refuse to challenge themselves. Infact, if they let go reading completely all its going to do is break away a possibility of change.
An adult sci-fi with a black girl as the main character? I need to get in touch with you when my series is done! (Throw in action-adventure and two love interests and you've described it perfectly!) 😀
As a totally blind author unfortunately Tik Tok has always been and continues to be inaccessible to me. So whatever might happen I hope that it's a little bit more user-friendly to people with vision impairments.
Im not on tiktok so idk about booktok but Ik there’s artists (singers) that wouldn’t be famous bc of tiktok, so Ik it can have a huge influence on things .
omg your comment on douglas being on berkley not not believing it made me laugh out loud, i feel the same way. berkley is my fav romance imprint and a couple things ive seen them pick up have me like 💀💀💀
Ignore the people mad at you!!! Great video 🖤
Also, I love seeing the ads on your videos! Go girly, get your bucks!!!❤
Great video! I don't really know what to say, since I agree with all of it, so here's a comment for the algorythm!
the books that have been popular or with a set fanbase having the credit given to booktok literally is such a big thing like the locked tomb books ive seen there sometimes but that is a tumblr darling
What adult black sci-fi book were you talking about?
@@A-Bit-Manic the principle of moments
@ oh I’ve seen her videos. Haven’t read it yet.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Wait booktok is shutting down?
@@cadburyyork5052 maybe 😭 in the beginning of the video i state that tik tok as of now will be shutting down january 2025
If you live in the US, it's being banned
@shhd2105 as a non-American, I completely forgot about that! I don't use it either way, but a lot of issues have come up there that I silently observed.
With Trump winig I think TikTok will not be shut down I. January 2025 he’ll push back on that once he is in office
What?
I might consider using the word commentary over essay if you wanna avoid the confusion! “essay” tends to sound more formally researched, rather than a discussion. loved this vid, excited to see what else u post🤍