“ANYTHING WITH ‘ENEMIES TO LOVERS’ IS GUARANTEED A MILLION VIEWS”. Om kommunikativa strategier, emotionella uttryck och publikrelationer i BookTok-kommunikation om böcker

Abstract

This study examines how literature is communicated within BookTok, a book-related community on TikTok where users share recommendations, reactions, and reading experiences through short-form videos. The purpose of the study is to analyze how books are presented and experienced on the platform, as well as to identify the communicative themes, expressions, and audience relationships that characterize BookTok content. The study is based on a qualitative thematic analysis of 25 English-language BookTok videos with high engagement on the platform. In addition, a semi-structured interview was conducted with two content creators active within the BookTok community. The analysis is grounded in theories of participatory culture, user-generated content (UGC), electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), and affective media theory. The findings show that literature on BookTok is rarely communicated through traditional literary criticism. Instead, emotions, relatability, and aesthetic expressions are central to how books are presented. Books are frequently communicated through music, popular culture references, tropes, and emotional reactions rather than formal literary analysis. Five recurring themes were identified in the material: book discussions, text-over-sound formats, fandom culture, pop-cultural associations, and reading aesthetics. The study also demonstrates that communication on BookTok is strongly intercontextual. Books gain meaning through connections to other cultural expressions such as films, music, fictional characters, and internet trends. These references function as communicative shortcuts that make literature emotionally engaging and easily recognizable for audiences. Furthermore, the relationship between content creators and audiences is shown to be central to the platform's influence. Comment sections function as social spaces where users collectively interpret, recommend, and discuss literature. Reading therefore becomes a participatory and socially shared activity rather than solely an individual experience. Finally, the study concludes that BookTok not only influences which books become popular, but also reshapes how literature is communicated and understood within contemporary digital media culture. Through the interaction of affective expressions, participatory practices, and intercontextual references, BookTok transforms literature into something social, emotional and algorithmically shareable. The study therefore contributes to existing research by highlighting how meaning around literature is collectively constructed through multimodal communication, audience interaction and platform-specific aesthetics on TikTok.