Master thesis in Sociology, 30 higher education credits 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reader in a Strange Land: The Transformation of 
Reading as a Social Practice in The Digital Age 
Anna Rozália Pósfai 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Supervisor: Bogdanova, Elena 
VT2024 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 
 
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................1 
2. Purpose and Questions ..........................................................................................4 
3. Previous research ...................................................................................................5 
3.1. Platforms .........................................................................................................5 
3.2. Bookfluencers ..................................................................................................5 
3.3. Online Reading Communities ........................................................................6 
3.4. Reading in the Digital Age .............................................................................7 
3.5. Positives and Negatives of Online Reading Communities ...........................8 
3.6. The Commodification of Reading ...............................................................10 
3.7. Transforming Reading as a Social Practice ...............................................10 
4. Theory and Concepts ...........................................................................................11 
4.1. Social Practices ..............................................................................................11 
4.2. Parasocial Relationships ..............................................................................12 
4.3. Time ...............................................................................................................13 
4.4. Emotions ........................................................................................................17 
4.5. Theory and Research Questions ..................................................................17 
5. Methods .................................................................................................................18 
6. Results and Analysis ............................................................................................21 
6.1. Videos .............................................................................................................21 
6.1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................21 
6.1.2. Criticizing BookTok ..........................................................................23 
6.1.2.1. BookTok Books ..........................................................24 
6.1.2.2. BookTok and the Publishing Industry .....................24 
6.1.3. Accelerating Reading Rates ..............................................................25 
6.1.4. Emotions .............................................................................................26 
6.2. Interviews ......................................................................................................27 
6.2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................27 
6.2.2. Owning and Buying Books ................................................................28 
6.2.3. BookTok Books ..................................................................................28 
6.2.4. Emotions and BookTok .....................................................................29 
6.2.5. Tracking Reading ..............................................................................29 
 
 
6.2.6. Downsides of Accelerated Reading Rates ........................................31 
6.2.7. Reading for Deceleration and Escapism ..........................................32 
6.2.8. Emotional Reading Experiences .......................................................33 
7. Discussion .............................................................................................................34 
8. Limitations and Further Research .....................................................................37 
9. Conclusion ............................................................................................................38 
10. References .............................................................................................................39 
11. Appendices ............................................................................................................43 
11.1. Appendix 1. – Interview guide ..........................................................43 
11.2. Appendix 2. – Codebook ...................................................................44 
11.3. Appendix 3. – Interviewee table .......................................................47 
  
 
 
Abstract 
Reading has always been a social practice. With reading communities linking back to 
storytelling practices in small communities, online reading communities hosted on social media 
platforms are simply a new way for these communities to exist in the digital age, connecting 
readers across the globe. Though early communities on BookTube and Goodreads have been 
around for longer, it was the appearance of TikTok and subsequent rapid rise of BookTok 
starting in 2020 that has resulted in these communities being more widely discussed. To 
understand how digital platforms transform reading, this thesis uses the theories of social 
acceleration and emotional capitalism. Interviews and videos from online reading communities 
were collected and analyzed. The results indicate that digital tools have shifted how reading is 
done, and that online reading communities engage in a specific way of reading that centers the 
sharing of reading statistics and experiences, the rapid consumption of books, and the tracking 
of reading. Global capitalist processes are expected to sustain this transformed reading practice 
through the commodification of time and emotions. 
 
Keywords: Social practices, BookTok, Goodreads, Social acceleration, Emotional capitalism, 
book clubs, reading communities. 
 
 
 
1. Introduction 
Regular visitors of bookstores might have noticed a curious sight following the pandemic: 
display tables bearing a #BookTok sign started popping up, then became staples at bookstores 
worldwide (Reddan, 2022). The BookTok phenomenon is notable both for the speed and spread 
of its popularity among young readers. With concerns surrounding the future of printed media 
and literary culture in the digital age (Driscoll et al., 2022), it is important to understand how 
an online reading community was able reinvigorate reading in generations of digital natives. 
Critics of these online communities argue that the reading practices popularized through them 
pose a new danger to literary culture (Birke & Fehrle, 2018), while scholars believe reading is 
simply changing (Birke, 2021; Martens et al., 2022). 
Contrary to the popular belief in some disciplines that reading is a solitary activity (Birke, 
2021), it is easy to find evidence of the contrary. According to Sedo (2011), all reading is rooted 
in the social, with reading communities connecting readers across space and different cultures. 
Reading has always been social (Birke, 2021), and the long history of book clubs is just one 
piece of the rich tapestry that is the history of storytelling and reading practices. From traditions 
of storytelling through listening to someone read in the Middle Ages to reading communities 
dating back to 1740 (Sedo, 2011), it is easy to see how stories have been central to communities 
throughout human history. Online reading communities have simply developed as book clubs 
moved online with the growing popularity of the internet (Fister, 2016) 
Readers have been having conversations about books online since the early days of the internet, 
with social media platforms hosting larger online reading communities (Driscoll et al., 2022). 
To understand the significance of the popularity of BookTok, we must first look at its main 
predecessors, since these still hold important spaces in the online reading space. Goodreads 
launched in 2007 and continues to be the main platform which centers around books and 
combines cataloguing and social networking features (Murray, 2019). Goodreads was followed 
by BookTube, the reading community hosted on YouTube (Perkins, 2017), then Bookstagram 
on Instagram. While all the content shared in the online book reading communities hosted on 
these platforms centers around books or reading in some way, each platform has specific 
functions, features, and unique customs within the larger community that affect the format. 
Popular content is typically posted by bookfluencers, who are social media influencers with a 
significant number of followers on their respective platforms who regularly create and share 
content about books and reading, and thus hold marketing value for publishers. Bookfluencers 
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are usually referred to as the name of their respective online reading community, with an added 
-er suffix. For example, a bookfluencer inhabiting the BookTok community will be referred to 
as a booktoker. (Guiñez-Cabrera & Mansilla-Obando, 2022) 
Goodreads allows its users to organize book titles into digital shelves, the most common of 
these being the books one has already read, the infamous to-be-read shelf, and the books one 
is currently reading (Maity et al., 2018). Depending on privacy settings, these shelves and their 
contents are then visible to one’s “friends” on the platform, along with any changes made, such 
as when a book makes it from “currently reading” to “read”. The platform’s main social 
features are sharing book reviews and recommendations and connecting with other readers as 
well as authors (Thelwall & Kousha, 2016). Users utilize these social and book-related 
functions more or less equally. 
BookTube arose from the vlogging trend on YouTube in the 2010s, and long-form video 
content is still the most popular kind (Perkins, 2017). Readers of a huge variety of genres and 
languages are able to find content to suit their tastes. While early BookTube content focused 
on book reviews, this later shifted to other popular forms, such as hauls, TBR videos, read-a-
thons or read-alongs. In hauls, BookTubers show off their recently purchased books. TBR, 
which stands for to-be-read, involves discussing books the creator has not yet read but intends 
to. Read-a-thons typically select a time frame such as 24 hours during which BookTubers 
record themselves reading as much as they can with occasional breaks (Birke & Fehrle, 
2018).  Read-alongs are longer videos in which BookTubers record themselves reading in real 
time, either as a live event viewers can stream, or as pre-recorded and uploaded videos, serving 
the purpose of essentially keeping viewers company in their reading (Perkins, 2017).   
Instagram is mainly for sharing photos or videos, revoking the nostalgic concept of traditional 
photography, specifically the instant nature of polaroid photographs in combination with social 
media culture and smartphones (Thomas, 2021). Bookstagram users share aesthetic images of 
the books they are reading. These photo posts most often display books with their covers facing 
the camera, surrounded by objects or even hot drinks to revoke a nostalgic sense of reading in 
cafes, while reading is depicted in casual positions of rest and relaxation. Captions usually 
accompany the photo posts. These can include summaries or reviews of the depicted books, or 
prompt communication from viewers. Although Instagram started out as a primarily photo-
sharing application, the features “Stories” and “Reels”, introduced after the widespread success 
of Snapchat and TikTok, allow users to post pictures or videos which disappear after 24 hours 
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as well as short-form videos, and have substantially increased the popularity of the platform 
(Reddan, 2022). Bookstagram celebrates the materiality of books, presents reading as a 
desirable activity (Reddan, 2022), and has been criticized for fetishizing books and reading 
(Thomas, 2021). 
First launched by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2016, TikTok quickly rose to be among 
the most used social media platforms (Martens et al., 2022). BookTok became popular during 
the pandemic. The main page of TikTok displays the ForYou page, where users are able to 
watch continuous streams of videos carefully curated for their tastes by an algorithm based on 
their previous engagement with the platform (Reddan, 2022). BookTok content is similar to 
Bookstagram and BookTube content, with the most popular videos being the ones in which 
booktokers express their emotions about a specific book (Reddan, 2022). Due to the time 
constraints on content specific to the platform, booktokers have to create short, easy to digest 
videos (Guiñez-Cabrera & Mansilla-Obando, 2022). Their speed, length and unrehearsed 
nature further lends them authenticity, urging a shift from the picture-perfect scenes carefully 
constructed for Bookstagram towards relatable and entertaining content (Reddan, 2022). 
BookTok content appears on other platforms as well (Perkins, 2017), most commonly shared 
as reels on Instagram, compiled into a longer form video for YouTube, or as bookshelves on 
Goodreads (Reddan, 2022). 
BookTube emanates conversations with friends who also read, focusing on the narrative and 
shared aspects of reading. Bookstagram evokes the sensory aspects of reading, creating a sense 
of nostalgia. BookTok focuses on the emotional aspects of reading. (Reddan, 2022) 
Bookfluencers take the place of community members within these communities rather than 
those of experts (Pianzola, 2021). Though they might have academic backgrounds in literature, 
the only real requirement is that they identify as readers, as book lovers (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). 
With visual content being the most popular across platforms, it is often the reading process, or 
the performance of the reader identity, that is in focus, not the interpretations or processing of 
meaning (Thomas, 2021). The reading practices presented in online reading communities are 
emphasized as important practices for self-improvement (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). The most 
basic idea is that they encourage their audiences to read, and reading then gives them its many 
proposed benefits from cultural capital to increased empathy (Perkins, 2017). Online reading 
cultures are thus transforming reading practices through the use of new elements. BookTok is 
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especially significant as it affects not only online spaces (Reddan, 2022). The questions of to 
what degree and how remain unanswered (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). 
 
2. Purpose and Questions 
Online reading communities emerge when the social practice of reading enters online 
platforms, particularly social media platforms. Generations of digital natives have been seen to 
utilize new elements of tracking and sharing as they adopted the practices of their online 
reading communities, thus transforming the social practice of reading (Birke, 2021). With 
BookTok reaching previously unseen heights in popularity, the question of how reading is 
being transformed occurs. and why these generations might be eager to incorporate these new 
elements into their reading. Though these questions have been touched upon by others (Birke, 
2021; Birke & Fehrle, 2018; Pianzola, 2021; Reddan, 2022), but not from a critical sociological 
perspective. 
Using semi-structured interviews and videos created by bookfluencers, this thesis combines 
interpretivist and critical perspectives to make sense of the experiences of readers in online 
reading communities to understand how these communities transform reading as a social 
practice. Furthermore, sociological theories of time and emotions are used to understand how 
dominant power structures shape the experiences of readers as individuals, and readers as 
groups alike to make them more likely to adapt the social practices of reading presented in their 
communities. For this purpose, an abductive approach is used in the analysis of the empirical 
material to answer the research questions. This thesis aims to present the effects of capitalism 
on everyday practices using the example of reading for pleasure, and to discuss the implications 
of its findings. The results will thus provide further understanding of how individual and group 
experiences are shaped through platforms and how they can be understood in further research 
in the fields of Sociology of Culture and Critical Sociology. 
RQ1: How do digital platforms and especially TikTok transform reading as a social practice? 
RQ2: How can the popularity of BookTok be explained through critical sociological theories 
of time and emotions? 
4 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Previous Research 
 
3.1. Reading Communities 
As we have seen, reading communities are not a new phenomenon. Online reading 
communities share characteristics with traditional book clubs but incorporate digital elements 
into their reading practices (Birke, 2021). To understand how reading is transformed in digital 
spaces, examining the similarities and differences between traditional and online reading 
communities is a good place to start. 
Both online and traditional reading communities have been criticized in the past for their 
readership and their reading materials. Reading communities primarily read genre fiction 
(Birke & Fehrle, 2018; Fister, 2016; Sedo, 2011), the most popular of which are fantasy, crime 
and romance (Driscoll et al., 2022). Works of genre fiction inhabit leisure time and time spent 
between other activities as sources of enjoyment but are often frowned upon in literary spaces 
for their perceived low cultural value (Birke & Fehrle, 2018; Sedo, 2011). Similarly, reading 
communities have historically been seen as feminine leisure activities, which still prevails, and 
though women make up the majority of literary consumers, their reading practices are still 
often mocked (Sedo, 2011).  
The idea of reading as a solitary practice is often central in arguments of a declining literary 
culture, ignoring the social elements of reading that can be consistently traced back through 
history (Birke, 2021). Though reading is still often done in private settings, through tracking, 
sharing, quantifying and discussing on online platforms, it not only becomes social, but also 
public (Birke, 2021). At the center of public social practices are bookfluencers.  
3.2. Bookfluencers 
The precise role of bookfluencers within online reading communities is not certain. Though it 
has been established that they are, first and foremost, readers and as such, equal members of 
the community rather than experts (Pianzola, 2021; Birke & Fehrle, 2018), Sedo (2011) found 
that book recommendations from members of online reading groups may take precedent over 
readers’ own intuition when it comes to choosing what to read. Bookfluencers in online reading 
communities, then, have a sort of cultural authority. It is very important for bookfluencers to 
be seen by their viewers as trusted sources of book recommendations (Reddan, 2022). To earn 
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this trust, they must present themselves as authentic, passionate readers. In the case of 
BookTubers, they most often record themselves in their bedrooms as they face the camera in a 
conversational style as they discuss their opinions on books. By doing so, they distance 
themselves from high-brow literary culture, making reading more accessible to their viewers.  
Both technological and literary materials are important for the creation of BookTube videos. 
Smartphones can be used to record the videos, and physical copies of books are presented to 
viewers.  When a physical copy is not available, creators may use other props such as the cover 
displayed on an e-reader device, or printed out and attached to the cover of a different book as 
a stand-in (Guiñez-Cabrera & Mansilla-Obando, 2022). While this is enticing to prospective 
creators since very little is needed to enter the community, it also brings up the questions to the 
authenticity and genuineness of content produced by bookfluencers. As opposed to Instagram 
and YouTube which offer their respective influencers opportunities to monetize their activities 
on the platforms, TikTok influencers have fewer opportunities to do so. Martens et al. (2022) 
suggest that this indicates that BookTokers are more interested in content creation for the social 
and cultural capital it affords them rather than for financial gains. According to the authors, 
this lends authenticity to the content created by BookTokers.  
Bookfluencers describe themselves as being addicted to the process of content creation, making 
it a part of their daily routine (Guiñez-Cabrera & Mansilla-Obando, 2022). On the other hand, 
the constant pressure to read and keep up can go against booktubers’ love for reading. In order 
to gain followers and be popular on the platform, they need to keep up with popular books, 
while continuing to express genuine emotions about the books they read (Birke & Fehrle, 
2018). The communication between readers in online reading communities is limited by the 
functions and features of their host platforms. On most platforms, the audience is able to 
interact through likes or comments, but these rarely facilitate conversations, making the 
interactions between bookfluencers and their followers fairly one-sided (Birke, 2021). Despite 
this, some bookfluencers report that they feel they are part of a larger community. 
3.3. Online Reading Communities 
Early online reading communities such as the Guardian Reading Group still largely resembled 
historical reading communities, simply in an online setting (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). The 
Guardian Reading Group was first led by a professor of English Literature but has since shifted 
to center the users while still holding onto ties to journalism and a more traditional form of 
6 
 
 
 
 
literary criticism. The focus is on books and reading in the literary sense. Online reading 
communities like BookTube, on the other hand, were developed by self-identified book lovers 
from the start. The focus, then, is on the reader identity.  Bookfluencers perform this identity 
in their content through displaying their reading practices or the books they own. The BookTok 
community values both analog and digital media, with the possession of printed copies serving 
as a way to construct reader identities (Martens et ai., 2022). Dezuanni et al. (2022) found that 
Bookstagram and BookTok content are not always focused on the act of reading itself, but 
instead on collecting and then displaying books, which is still a part of performing their reader 
identity. With the act of reading publicized, the community of readers is able to validate it as 
meaningful, strengthening this identity (Birke, 2021). 
Digital platforms offer instantaneous modes of communication, emphasizing recency, which 
centers the sharing of experiences and ideas at any point of the reading process rather than a 
formation of a definitive opinion at the end of the reading process (Thomas, 2021). With visual 
content being the most popular across platforms, it is often the reading process, or the 
performance of reading, that is in focus, not the interpretations or processing of meaning. On 
social media, the most important part of reading is the practice, not the products, such as 
cultural capital or any of the other benefits commonly attributed to reading. Through 
performing the reader identity, bookfluencers signal their belonging to online reading 
communities. 
Some popular formats of content on BookTube are Hauls, TBR videos and Bookshelf Tours. 
Hauls and TBR videos focus on excitement and anticipation as booktubers have yet to read the 
books they present (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). Bookshelf Tours emphasize the love for books and 
living with books as a lifestyle, strengthening the reader identity and further confirming group 
affiliation (Birke, 2021). According to Birke and Fehrle (2018), BookTubers may apologize if 
their opinion of a popular book differs from how most other readers feel about it. This may 
seem to go against the ideals of online reading communities as inclusive spaces at first. Based 
on Pianzola (2021), if we understand a common opinion of a certain book (e.g. that it is good) 
as a fact, sharing this fact rather than new information signals group membership to viewers. 
3.4. Reading in the Digital Age 
Apart from content shared on their respective platforms, readers in online reading communities 
commonly take part in social activities that all contribute to their reader identity. These include 
7 
 
 
 
 
writing and posting book reviews on Goodreads, hosting and taking part in online discussions 
on books, tracking and sharing reading statistics as part of a reading challenge, or organizing 
and sharing real or digital bookshelves (Birke, 2021). Bookfluencers taking part in reading 
challenges might share their experiences and progress on their respective platforms as well as 
on Goodreads. For booktubers, the focus in these videos is on the specific challenge, their 
thoughts and progress, and glimpses of their everyday lives to further signal that they are just 
regular readers who read a lot (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). Reading challenges have a competitive 
aspect, are an element of self-optimization, and a way for readers to keep themselves 
accountable as a form of motivation (Birke, 2021). Reading is tracked and quantified, with 
reading statistics often shared on a monthly or yearly basis (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). Goodreads 
is commonly used for this purpose.  
As mentioned before, bookfluencers seek to connect with their viewers by signaling their 
reader identity and presenting themselves in domestic environments. Booktokers, in particular, 
typically create less polished content. In trying to build a parasocial relationship with their 
followers, booktokers present themselves and their lifestyles as similar to that of their followers 
rather than as aspirational in the ways bookstagrammers typically present their reading lives 
(Reddan, 2022). However, picture perfect bookshelves posted on Bookstagram  serve a similar 
purpose. Books are not necessarily the focus in these pictures, but in essence components of 
the lifestyle shown in the videos. In doing so, bookstagrammers invite their followers to 
imagine themselves in their lives, using their book collections, as part of building a parasocial 
relationship with them (Reddan, 2022). Although the idea of judging someone by the contents 
of their bookshelf is not foreign and predates online reading communities, this idea takes center 
stage on BookTube. The popular video formats are as much about introducing readers to new 
books as they are about fleshing out the booktuber’s character by providing further insight into 
their personality, preferences, and values through the books they prefer (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). 
This helps build the parasocial relationship between them and their viewers, which facilitates 
the development of trust needed to be seen as valuable sources of book recommendations 
(Reddan, 2022). 
3.5. Positives and Negatives of Online Reading Communities 
Online reading communities can facilitate meaningful connections (Fister, 2016), but both 
Driscoll et al. (2022) and Sedo (2011) found that traditional reading communities tend to be 
more nurturing. There are a lot of book clubs available both on and offline, so how do readers 
8 
 
 
 
 
choose and why do they choose online communities? While some readers feel more 
comfortable online, others are unable to find an in person book club, or attend in person. Online 
reading communities attract younger readers from various cultural backgrounds and 
geographical locations (Sedo, 2011). With a wide array of bookfluencers and content to choose 
from, it is easier for readers to find book clubs dedicated to their preferred sub-genre, no matter 
how niche it might be. Fister (2016) argues that online reading communities can facilitate 
connecting with other like-minded participants, forging important connections and thus 
providing social capital to participants. According to Birke and Fehrle (2018), the community 
aspect is what keeps users engaged as they are able to meet and talk to fellow readers of their 
preferred genre on a daily basis. Those in favor of online reading communities tend to point to 
this community aspect along with the democratization of reading and reviewing as their key 
strength. Critics bring up concerns around the commercialization of reading, a decreasing 
quality in in popular books and literary discussions, shifting power dynamics in cultural 
authority (Birke & Fehrle, 2018), and the exploitation of reader data. In the following, both 
perspectives will be presented. 
While reading genre fiction (or even literary fiction), particularly among women, used to be at 
the center of discussions on the possible collapse of literary culture, online reading 
communities celebrate all kinds of reading as equally beneficial, regardless of genre (Birke & 
Fehrle, 2018). They disregard traditional standards of what it means to be a reader when it 
comes to genres of choice, and instead center emotional connection and personal enjoyment 
(Birke & Fehrle, 2018). For online readers, traditional literary criticism can be seen as a form 
of gatekeeping, going against the openness and inclusivity that is prized in the community. A 
study by Driscoll & Sedo (2018) found that the vast majority of Goodreads reviews, especially 
reviews of genre fiction books, focus on the emotional experiences of reading, and the platform 
is often praised for democratizing the review process and readers. 
Murray (2019) calls for the critical examination of platforms such as Goodreads. Though 
Goodreads promises to provide book recommendations to its users, its hidden goal is the 
collection and processing of user information into data to be sold to advertisers. Thus, the 
readers using the platform become its most profitable product (Murray, 2019). Goodreads is 
owned by Amazon, and the most popular social media platforms hosting online reading 
communities are also owned by major corporations, meaning that these new reading 
communities are much more intertwined with capitalist practices than traditional reading 
9 
 
 
 
 
communities (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). Books are still often seen as different from other forms 
of media, prompting users to believe that book-centric platforms are exempt from capitalist 
market logic (Murray, 2019). In reality, the digital book world is closely intertwined with 
capitalist market systems, which is masked by an emphasis on literary enthusiasm. 
3.6. The Commodification of Reading 
Book reviews written by passionate community members are utilized to help sell books on 
other websites, lending an authentic air to attract prospective buyers (Murray, 2019). In sharing 
their feelings through a review format, readers using Goodreads blend intimacy and the 
commercial elements of reading as a social practice (Driscoll & Sedo, 2018). The 
commercialization of books is then an integral part of online reading communities. With 
emotional reactions present as another important element, these communities integrate 
emotions into markets (Birke & Fehrle, 2018). 
Owning and displaying books is central to performing the reader identity online. Books as 
materials are important elements of BookTube videos, with most of the popular formats being 
based on the featuring of multiple hard copies at once. Hauls, for example, are also popular in 
other communities on YouTube, such as those centered around skincare and makeup (Birke & 
Fehrle, 2018). This, to a degree, equates books to products that exist wholly outside of literary 
culture. The acquisition of these books is not shrouded in mystery either. Bookfluencers openly 
discuss book buying habits, often linking websites where viewers can purchase books. In what 
might seem like a contradictory manner, “unhauls” where bookfluencers present books they 
are discarding (most often in the form of donations), and book buying bans where they set self-
imposed rules to stop buying books until a certain condition is met, have also become popular. 
As Birke and Fehrle (2018) state, this is often done with the intention of making room for 
further purchases. Members of the BookTube community, for example, have reported feeling 
ostracized because they do not have the necessary finances to keep up with the rate of 
purchasing books that BookTube content dictates (Perkins, 2017). 
3.7. Transforming Reading as a Social Practice 
According to Birke (2021), reading is not in decline, but it is getting transformed through online 
reading communities. The reading practices seen today are not a complete departure from past 
practices, but a part of an ongoing evolution of reading. Elements of traditional literary culture 
and those of modern online communities are blended, transforming reading as a social practice. 
10 
 
 
 
 
Previous research thus provides a partial answer to the first research question. Online reading 
communities such as BookTok transform reading by shifting what tools and activities are a part 
of being a reader. They place an emphasis on the enjoyment of reading, making it easier to 
become a part of them. Anyone with an internet access is able to post reviews or share their 
reading process with the public. Reading is tracked and quantified for easier evaluation, and 
owning hard copies of books is central to the reader identity, with acts other than reading but 
still involving books becoming a part of reading practices. With concerns around the 
disappearance of print media, readers from online reading communities still seem to prefer 
hard copies of books. According to Murray (2019) this is in favor of big data companies, as 
they are able to sustain the illusion of books as analogue escapes from the surveillance of social 
media.  
The research presented here also provides valuable insight into the second research question, 
namely, how the popularity of BookTok can be explained. Digital natives with a love for books 
easily integrate into online reading communities where they are able to connect with others. 
This, along with the escapism it promises has been identified as one of the key motivators 
behind interacting with online reading communities (Omar & Dequan, 2020). Reddan (2022) 
points to the appeal of popular music in combination with the display of book covers to young 
readers as well as to the timing of the community’s emergence during the COVID-19 pandemic 
as the key catalysts to its popularity. The enduring popularity of the community indicates that 
it is not simply the need for escapism caused by a global pandemic that keeps readers involved, 
but likely transformed reading practices which have incorporated digital elements. 
 
4. Theory and Concepts  
 
4.1. Social Practices 
Social practices are patterns of routinized behavior that endure across space and time (Shove 
et al., 2012). They are composed of the elements of meanings, materials and competences, 
which their practitioners reproduce through their practice. As these elements change and come 
together in new ways, so do social practices change and evolve over time. Materials can be 
objects, tools, or infrastructures to name a few. Competences are forms of understanding or 
practical skills. Meanings are the emotions, motivations and mental activities involved in 
practices. Once practitioners gain enough experience in their respective practices, they become 
11 
 
 
 
 
what they do, transforming one who reads into a reader. It then follows that each social practice 
has practitioners at varying stages of experience, which is likely where conflicts of the 
necessary components to belonging arise (Shove et al., 2012).  
The process of enacting social practices carries within it the potential for the practice to change 
as the different elements of practice come together in new combinations (Shove et al., 2012). 
Since practices are constantly changing as they are enacted, self-monitoring or the monitoring 
by other practitioners becomes a necessary part of practices to continuously define what it 
means to do a practice. The tools used to record and quantify one’s performance, such as 
tracking websites like Goodreads then play a role in the constitution of the reading practice, 
modifying the meaning of reading. While practitioners, in this case, readers, play an integral 
role in the transforming of practices, the primary drivers of change are the interplay between, 
and reconfiguration of elements. Shove et al. (2012) argue that there are no technological 
innovations without developments in the social practices which utilize them as materials. 
Therefore, new technological materials can only be successful if they become embedded in 
everyday practices and in social order at large. With the currently available tools of mass 
communication, meanings are mediated. If reading is associated with learning and self-
improvement, the practice then becomes desirable in a context where self-improvement is an 
important, almost mandatory goal to strive for. Since reading, especially with the use of 
audiobooks or different technologies, is fairly easy to combine with other practices and is not 
fixed in location, it is easy to adopt into everyday routines. 
 
4.2. Parasocial Relationships 
Parasocial interaction and parasocial relationship are terms for related theoretical concepts. 
Their difference lies in how and when they occur. Parasocial interactions are a perceived 
mutual awareness during the process of engaging with the media content, while parasocial 
relationship refers to an association between viewer and subject that possibly originates from 
the viewing process but extends beyond these situations and is a longer-term association 
(Dibble et al., 2015). In the case of online reading communities, followers or casual observers 
may experience both parasocial interactions and parasocial relationships with content creators. 
Parasocial interactions may occur as the audience engages with a live or recorded video, visual 
posts, or other types of content in which the creator acknowledges their audience, or through 
the use of a personal, candid tone, or a more personal setting, which is typical of bookfluencers 
12 
 
 
 
 
(Reddan, 2022). Even without these parasocial interactions, parasocial relationships may form 
between book influencers and their audience. Although the concept of parasocial relationships 
predates the internet, advanced technology has most certainly changed its meaning. 
 
4.3. Time 
Hartmut Rosa (2020) points to the inherent conflict of modern life between using the plentiful 
technological tools to take control of nearly every aspect of our lives and the nostalgic desire 
to let life take its own course. With the widespread use of smart devices, not only is the world 
(in the form of information) easily accessible to us, but so too are we accessible to the world. 
Communication technologies such as social media create an estrangement and 
disempowerment (Crary, 2013). Rosa (2020) calls this era the digital age, characterized by a 
sudden, extreme shift in the way the controllability and uncontrollability of the world relate to 
each other. Rather than missing the key tools to control life to our liking, we are now limited 
only by our financial and mental capacities. This has led to the quantified self movement, in 
which individuals attempt to quantify nearly every aspect of their lives into easily accessible 
units. Rosa points mainly to biometric units, but through the use of tracking tools, such as 
Goodreads, readers are also encouraged to quantify our reading.  As Rosa (2020) points out, 
through this manner of observing everyday aspects of our lives, we are inherently encouraged 
to attempt to change them. In the context of reading, this manifests as the desire to read more, 
or otherwise change our reading habits.  
In Rosa’s (2020) example of the cruise industry, he describes the workings of commodity 
capitalism through offering products that provide just enough satisfaction to consumers to get 
them to purchase goods over and over again, but not so much that they would be moved more 
than they would like to be. While individuals will often be on the constant lookout for their 
next trip, next adventure, next exposure to an uncontrollable experience in a controlled manner, 
they do not want these experiences to touch them in a way that would change their everyday 
lives. These trips, therefore, provide a form of escapism much like reading for pleasure does. 
Reading has often been likened to travel, and if we look at this comparison in the context of 
late modernity, the newly rising popularity of reading for pleasure starts to become clearer. 
With the constant demand for a controlled life, individuals increasingly reach for the taste of a 
simpler, uncontrollable life. We can see this as one of the contributing reasons to the sudden 
popularity of reading in 2020. As to why TikTok, as a short-form video platform, played such 
13 
 
 
 
 
a crucial role in this event, Hartmut Rosa’s contributions to the theory of social acceleration 
provide some insights. 
The theory of acceleration describes a process in which many different facets of life gain speed 
or are condensed into shorter time frames. In an accelerated society, social actors must 
negotiate their changing relationship to the social and the objective world, as acceleration 
changes how one relates to time and space, to others, and to oneself. Crary also warns that the 
more we immerse ourselves in the digital world, the less we think the environmental 
destruction surrounding us will affect us (Crary, 2013). With no clear distinction between work 
and leisure time, looking at images becomes a focal point in the way many hegemonic 
institutions function. The traditional idea of an observer, however, has been disrupted since the 
act of looking at pictures (or videos) is monitored and converted into data to be sold (Crary, 
2013). The times when one was simply a spectator are now gone, since modern forms of 
content offer a myriad of chances to interact with them by way of sharing or giving feedback 
among others. To maximize the actions one can fit into each minute, there is a vast array of 
content to interact with, and each interaction provides a way to generate profit or profitable 
information. 
In search for the causes of acceleration, capitalism is most often highlighted by scholars (Rosa 
& Scheuerman, 2009; Rosa, 2009). More precisely, and especially in Western societies, it is 
the dynamics of modern capitalism that have been noted to directly manufacture the situations 
which lead to acceleration. Since time and money are intricately interwoven in the market, time 
saved by faster production processes directly translate to an increase in profits. With thus 
incentivized faster production speeds, the circulation and consumption of goods accelerate to 
follow. Therefore, with markets working around the clock, people are expected to do the same. 
Crary (2013) calls this 24/7 capitalism. Apart from this tangible factor of capitalism in the 
occurrences of acceleration, the capitalist logic in society can also be observed. Under 
capitalism, pausing equals falling behind, and in an accelerated society this presents as 
individuals feeling the pressure to perpetually keep moving (Rosa, 2009). As Dewey (2009) 
puts it: "The mania for motion and speed is a symptom of the restless instability of social life, 
and it operates to intensify the causes from which it springs” (p. 62). According to Crary (2013), 
keeping up with the currently most popular applications and networks takes priority over 
purchasing and owning objects, as acquiring and then discarding things just further contributes 
to the desirable image of being someone who is up to date, which is driven by the fear of falling 
14 
 
 
 
 
behind. One example of this is the “unhaul” videos in which bookfluencers discard books to 
make room for new ones. 
Rosa (2009) warns against attempting to explain the phenomenon of social acceleration by 
relying only on the effects of capitalist modes of production. Scholars in the past pointed to 
secularization as another possible explanation both behind acceleration and capitalism itself 
(Rosa & Scheuerman, 2009; Rosa, 2009).  Without a strong cultural concept of eternal life, 
individuals are presented with the challenge of fitting everything they would like to achieve 
into a single lifetime. Rosa (2009) describes this mentality as follows: “if we live twice as fast, 
if we take only half the time to realize an action, goal or experience, we can double what we 
can do in our lifetime.” (p. 91). According to the Rosa and Scheuerman (2009), it is likely these 
economic and cultural factors along with a structural motor that is responsible for driving 
acceleration forward. Capitalism leads to an acceleration in technological advancement with 
the aim of decreasing production times, which increases time scarcity in a paradoxical process 
by increasing the possibilities available to individuals, and creating an endless race to catch up 
(Rosa, 2009; 2013). Each new technological invention offers further choices than the ones 
before, creating a continuous expansion of, and increase in, both new demands and tasks, but 
also in the dependence on the 24/7 routines (Crary, 2013). In response, then, individuals begin 
to condense their time to compensate for the time lost, resulting in an accelerated pace of life 
(Rosa, 2013). Crary (2013) warns against thinking of current issues as mere products of a 
transitional period where only younger generations are digital natives who possess the 
competence needed to use technological inventions to their advantage. According to Crary, the 
continuous adaptions of new technologies maintains this transitional period, making the idea 
of catching up impossible. 
Apart from technological and social acceleration, Rosa and Scheuerman (2009) point out the 
importance of considering the speedup of everyday life, of basic life activities. Modern life is 
associated with less time spent on activities such as eating, sleeping, or enjoying hobbies, while 
the frequency of changes of one’s home, employment or partners increases (Rosa, 2013).  
Referred to as the acceleration of the pace of life, this change can be understood as increasing 
the actions and experiences contained in units of time, or less time spent on actions. In the 
context of reading, this can be understood as a speeding up of the act of reading itself by 
skimming or performing other methods of hyper reading (Pianzola, 2021), or the condensation 
15 
 
 
 
 
of reading either by multitasking or by a shortening of the in-between periods associated with 
reading such as the time it takes to select one’s next book to read (Rosa, 2013). 
Rosa (2009) also discusses deceleration, or the slowing down of life, which seems to coexist 
with acceleration. While deceleration is the reality for many individuals in social categories 
with limited or no access to the technological tools and resources enabling acceleration (Rosa 
& Scheuerman, 2009), categories of deceleration often present as reactionary to acceleration 
(Rosa, 2009). With technological advancements putting a pressure on individuals to consume 
more and in fewer units of time, temporary deceleration wherein individuals purposefully take 
the time to slow down by engaging in specific activities or visiting specific places to recharge 
is essentially a way to enable, enhance or sustain acceleration. These brief periods of rest are, 
in effect, a way for people to further accelerate once they return to their everyday lives.  
Scholars point to the dangers of acceleration. As a structural feature of western capitalist 
modernity alongside other features such as differentiation, individualization or rationalization, 
acceleration could lead to social pathologies (Rosa & Scheuerman, 2009). The authors raise 
the concern that in a hyper accelerated society, both individual and collective autonomy falls 
at risk of being undermined. Under 24/7 capitalism, our very ability to sleep is at stake (Crary, 
2013). Dewey (2009) points to the vast amounts of readily available entertainment produced 
with the aid of technological advancement and the subsequent time scarcity as points of 
distraction for society, thus creating a distracted, and therefore ineffective public. Without 
stability, Dewey worries, people cannot organize effectively. Rather than taking an issue with 
pieces of media demanding people’s attention, Crary (2013) problematizes the molding of 
attention into repetitive actions that always incorporate looking or listening. The problem, then, 
is not how similar the objects of our attention are, but the compulsory nature of the consumption 
of such content. The theory of social acceleration contributes to the critical theory of society, 
as it highlights the social and political pathologies endemic to society in late modernity (Rosa 
& Scheuerman, 2009). 
Shove et al. (2012) discusses time in terms of the time spent on practices. In line with Crary’s 
(2013) concept of 24/7 capitalism, the author’s calculation only discounts the hours spent on 
sleep to present the hours that may be spent partaking in a practice. The authors then respond 
to concerns about the Internet’s role in potentially encroaching on time spent with family or 
friends by stating that the reality is that the Internet simply changes how we define time spent 
16 
 
 
 
 
with friends or family. Likewise, the internet seems to be changing the meaning of reading in 
a similar way (Shove et al., 2012). 
 
4.4. Emotions 
As seen from previous research, emotions are very important parts of online reading 
communities from reviews through recommendations to descriptions of the reading process. 
Social media platforms turn private selves into public performances to be evaluated in a 
marketized process, where identity and self-presentation become selling points (Illouz, 2013). 
Dezuanni et al (2022) discuss a common type of content available across various platforms, in 
which creators display their bookshelves. When posted by influencers, these pictures are 
usually crafted carefully and deliberately so that they are not only aesthetically pleasing, but 
also help facilitate an emotional connection to their viewers. While these intentions may come 
from their passion for books, it also serves the function of gaining further followers (Dezuanni 
et al., 2022). As Birke & Fehrle (2018) explain, with emotions featured as such in online 
content about reading, online reading communities integrate emotions into markets. When 
emotional life becomes closely intertwined with capitalist practices and values, emotions and 
intimacy are treated as commodities and increasingly rationalized to fit within a market logic. 
Eva Illouz (2013) refers to this as emotional capitalism. 
4.5. Theory and Research Questions 
The theory of social practices as described by Shove et al. (2012) will be used here as the basis 
of the analysis through which the first research question is answered. By focusing on meanings, 
materials and practices in analyzing how reading as a social practice is transformed in online 
reading communities, valuable insight can be gained into how changes in these elements have 
contributed to transforming reading as a social practice. The concept of parasocial interactions 
provides context of the use of these by bookfluencers in order to establish stronger links with 
their audiences. The theories of time and emotions will be used to answer the second research 
question. Social acceleration prompts individuals to live and consume at faster rates, affecting 
even everyday activities such as reading. Under emotional capitalism, emotions and market 
processes are closely intertwined. These theories can contribute to the understanding of the 
sudden popularity of BookTok, as both the acceleration of reading rates and the focus on 
emotions to sell books and gain followers are important in the community. 
 
17 
 
 
 
 
5. Methods 
Starting with an interest in the BookTok phenomenon, my initial readings of previous literature 
led me towards the social aspects of reading in online spaces. I was interested in readers, both 
as individuals and as members of reading communities, and how commonly identified issues 
such as the commodification of reading affected them. Since the majority of studies that deal 
with BookTok come from media or literacy studies, it was not until after collecting my data 
that I realized I needed to shift my theoretical approach. I made what Timmermans and Tavory 
(2012) call a surprising discovery, in that emotions and productivity featured heavily in the 
interviews. In an abductive process led by my discoveries as well as an understanding of the 
supporting theories, I adjusted my research questions to reflect my interest in the way online 
reading communities transform reading practices, and why they are so popular among young 
readers. In the following, I will describe the process of collecting my data followed by the 
abductive analysis I conducted. 
In order to gain a better understanding of online reading communities and reading practices, I 
chose online qualitative research. Not only is qualitative research better suited to understanding 
the personal choices individuals make in their reading journey, but the theoretical framework 
chosen for this study also aligns better with qualitative methods. Reading is highly personal, 
and to make sure I understood how both individual readers as well as reading communities 
practice reading, a multimodal design was chosen.  
Extant and elicited data was collected through online means for analysis. Extant data, in this 
case in the form of BookTube videos, can be helpful in collecting background information 
(Salmons, 2022). During the collection of extant data, the researcher has no direct interaction 
with the participants, which can be especially helpful in understanding organic processes of 
online communities. Missing information or gaps in extant data can be filled using elicited 
data, where the researcher has direct content with participants. In this case, semi-structured 
video interviews were carried out with consenting members of the community.  
The videos for analysis were chosen using YouTube’s own search engine which allows for the 
filtering of search results. The data collection took place between February and April of 2024. 
The search term “BookTok” was used, and the results were filtered by the date of posting 
(limited to the past 6 months), and by length (over 20 minutes) in order to ensure recent, in-
18 
 
 
 
 
depth discussions of the BookTok community. Once the search results had been obtained, I 
chose the five videos of analysis based on a further set of criteria described below.  
The creators of the chosen videos are all members of online reader communities, with many of 
them creating content on multiple platforms. This is an important criterion as a large number 
of video essays about various aspects about BookTok have been posted since the community 
first took off in 2020, but many of these were posted by creators whose online presence is not 
primarily built on bookish content, and they therefore cannot be considered bookfluencers in 
online reading communities. Videos dealing with specific books rather than more general 
observations about the community were also excluded, and the final selection was made based 
on the number of views the video garnered, as this signals a heightened interest from the 
community. All of the videos collected for analysis have over 100.000 views, and are 25-59 
minutes in length.  
The ethical considerations for extant data collected online differ from the handling of elicited 
data (Salmons, 2022). The platform on which the content was posted is crucial to consider. 
YouTube is a public platform freely available both to registered users and unregistered visitors. 
Since the bookfluencers who posted the videos have considerable platforms and are 
intentionally creating and sharing their content, they show understanding of the platform and 
are not at risk of sharing vulnerable information about themselves due to media illiteracy. Such 
social media posts can be used for document analysis as authored material using the appropriate 
citations (Salmons, 2022). As the information the creators share in the videos is not sensitive 
and protected, and the host website allows the fair use of materials, these videos can be used 
ethically for analysis. During the analysis, I will refer to the bookfluencers by their publicly 
displayed usernames as they volunteered these themselves on a public platform. 
For the interviews, purposive snowball sampling was used, and the participants had to be 
members of online reading communities to be included. Since members of these communities 
best understand membership of the community, after recruiting the first participants through 
personal contacts, they were then asked to refer friends of theirs they knew to be members of 
online reading communities. Since the research was carried out online, the medium was 
considered in the process of informing the participants and obtaining their informed consent. 
Salmons (2022) suggests using means the target audience is familiar with in the online context 
to obtain informed consent rather than simply digitizing the usual method of providing 
participants with sheets of paper as one might in a face-to-face setting. One of the suggested 
19 
 
 
 
 
means, an online questionnaire was used to inform participants and obtain their consent. 
Prospective participants received a link to the questionnaire either directly from me or from 
previous participants. The questionnaire contained all necessary information about the aims 
and extent of this research, about the precise use of their data, and about their rights as 
participants. Although the aims of the research was shifted slightly, the current thesis still fits 
the description the participants received. They were also given the option to ask for further 
information before deciding to take part in the research. Their digital contact information was 
collected as a means to establish contact and discuss the time of the interviews. All five 
participants consented to the voice recording of the interviews. The recordings were stored on 
password protected devices. To further protect the identities of the participants, pseudonyms 
will be used in the written analysis and discussion presented here. An interview guide was used 
for the semi-structured interviews, see Appendix 1. The interviews were 23-55 minutes in 
length. All participants are women in their early 20s. While this certainly has the potential of 
limiting the results of this research, it is important to note that the sample demographic reflects 
the most significant layer of online reading community members. 
As mentioned before, I decided to shift my focus after collecting my materials. Rather than 
centering communities, I am instead focusing the reading practices presented on and 
popularized through various platforms, only focusing on BookTok insofar as it is the most 
popular, and therefore most influential of the platforms discussed here. Abduction relies on 
this adjusting of the theoretical framework in light of new surprising findings arising from the 
data to form a more complete understanding (Timmermans & Tavory, 2012). After realizing 
that engaging with the online community is just one aspect of a transformed reading practice 
and one of multiple reasons why young readers might be drawn to these practices, I changed 
the research questions and adjusted my theoretical framework. After initially familiarizing 
myself with the data, I first generated a deductive codebook based on previous materials, then 
an inductive codebook through a process of revisit and defamiliarization as described by Vila-
Henninger et al. (2022). After adjusting my theoretical framework, I reviewed my codebook 
so that it reflected the introduction of the new theories to better understand my phenomenon. 
With this abductive codebook in place, I was able to carry out a thematic analysis. For the 
codebook, see Appendix 2. 
In researching online communities, the position of the researcher should be disclosed (Salmons, 
2022). I fall between being inside and outside the community as I have experienced the research 
20 
 
 
 
 
phenomena and share characteristics with the participants but have only been an inactive 
observer of BookTok. According to Salmons (2022), a certain level of inside knowledge is 
necessary not only to gain access to the community and understand their norms, but also to 
build rapport with the participants. While I believe that my position puts me at an advantage 
of understanding the results obtained, I do not think it compromises my objectivity. That being 
said, my position will affect my understanding of the data (Timmermans & Tavory, 2012). 
 
6. Results and Analysis 
 
6.1. Videos 
 
6.1.1. Introduction 
The YouTube videos collected for analysis though vary in their focus, all, to a degree, explore 
a conflict between the BookTok community and other communities. The videos will first be 
summarized to gain an understanding of their individual topics as well as the position the 
creators take before delving into the themes identified through the analysis. 
@rayareadzzzz’s (2023) video deals with the phenomenon of New York Times best-selling 
author Colleen Hoover’s immense success and apparent fall from grace in at least parts of the 
BookTok community and other online reader communities. The vast majority of Hoover’s 
books are categorized as romance, though what many of them share is themes of trauma. 
Hoover’s success predates the success of BookTok, but her book titled It Ends With Us is 
commonly recognized as a “BookTok book”. @rayareadzzzz believes the popularity of 
Hoover’s books lies in the simplicity of their language and the popular story elements used and 
highlights the recent phenomenon of the author receiving criticism online for the themes in her 
books and also, seemingly, for their popularity. According to @rayareadzzzz this sudden 
change of heart in the community is caused not by a change in the quality of the book, but in 
the amount of attention they now receive. 
In @caricanread’s 2024 video, she comments on the conversations she observed in online 
communities wherein individuals discussed the validity of the reader identity in relation to the 
memories retained of the books they have read. She questions the degree to which one must be 
able to recall the plot, characters, or other details of books they have read in order for them to 
“count” as read. She views the experience of reading as more important than the information 
21 
 
 
 
 
retained. As she explains, “I don’t care how you read because reading is so private and 
literally only happens in your brain and I think that’s why we all turn to social media or book 
clubs etc. to share our love of books because it is such a strangely kind of isolating thing.” 
(@caricanread, 2024, 8:04) 
In the rest of the video, @caricanread (2024) tests her memory of various books she has read 
at some point in her lifetime. To do so, she relies on a list of books her audience has sent her, 
relying on her Goodreads account to access her reading history going back several years. She 
recalls many nostalgic or otherwise emotional memories in connection to the books. 
@jack_edwards begins his 2024 video by stating, “[…] I’ve just been seeing a lot of interesting 
discourse online, this week specifically, about BookTok. BookTok is a platform and a 
community that I really care about very very deeply. It’s a community where I’ve found so 
much joy, so much passion, so much enthusiasm for literature […].” (0:15) 
The interesting discourse, as he refers to the conversations in the community is, for the most 
part, criticism about various aspects of the community, which he refers to as the world’s biggest 
book club. @jack_edwards continues to take a positive stance in the rest of the video, defending 
BookTok with arguments of his own. It should be noted that @jack_edwards himself is a 
BookTok creator as well. 
@accordingtoalina’s (2023) video includes many of the same critiques of BookTok 
@jack_edwards discussed, with two key differences. Firstly, her video centers the problem of 
overconsumption she introduces as prevalent on BookTok. Secondly, her stance is far more 
critical of BookTok practices than @jack_edwards’. In many ways, her video could be 
understood as a response to his, were it not for the order in which they were posted. 
@accordingtoalina (2023) brings up book haul videos as evidence in support of her claim. She 
explains the desire to own an arguably excessive number of books as follows: “Reading is 
more than a hobby to most people: it’s a virtue. And by extension, not reading is a moral 
failing. And having piles and piles of books around your house is like, the physical 
manifestation of that virtue, right?” (11:18) 
@thebookleo (2024) responds to criticism specifically about the way TikTok categorizes books 
by reducing them to tropes, or recurring storytelling devices which most books have, but are 
especially prevalent in the romance genre. The key argument she makes is that many of the 
22 
 
 
 
 
actions or norms people seem to associate with BookTok and subsequently criticize have 
actually been around for a long time. She uses the example of the historic phenomenon of the 
retellings of fairytales to illustrate her point that building stories around existing structures over 
and over again predates printed word. It was only with the invention of the printing press, 
@thebookleo argues, that the concept of there being a single true and original version of a story 
emerged, and the use of story elements like tropes to sort stories into categories simply serves 
the purpose of easing the process of identifying the sort of books one enjoys. This, she says, is 
a system adopted from the popular fanfiction sharing website, Archive of Our Own. To those 
concerned that using this system is doing away from the traditional book reviews they are used 
to, @thebookleo (2024) says, “Even in modern times when we’re talking about books on 
YouTube, or on Instagram or on TikTok, we’re still using, you know, our spoken words to talk 
about literature. […] but what is happening on TikTok is people are talking about books using 
no words and only images and music. That is cool, okay. People are using a whole new visual 
and musical language to recommend the book to you.” (41:22) 
All creators with the exception of @accordingtoalina used a portion of their video to 
recommend books to their audience either directly or by way of showing summaries akin to 
their content in recommendation videos. All of them recorded their videos in a home setting 
and addressed their audience directly, thereby creating a parasocial interaction. In the 
backgrounds of many of their videos, books or other bookish content can be seen. 
@caricanread takes a personal call during the recording to the video, and while the call itself 
is not included, this further signals a personal relationship with their viewers. All videos deal 
with, or at least mention common critiques against BookTok in some form. Some of these are 
that BookTok book recommendations are repetitive (@jack_edwards, 2024) or that using 
tropes in talking about books is ruining reading by watering them down (@thebookleo, 2024). 
6.1.2. Criticizing BookTok 
Criticism against BookTok books is fairly common in discussions of the platform. As 
@rayareadzzzz says, “Like, you’re reading a Colleen Hoover book, and you understand that 
it is objectively bad, but you still cannot put it down most of the time.” (8:22) 
@jack_edwards (2024) points out that the term BookTok book is used for a large variety of 
books, with Colleen Hoover’s books and, for example, The Secret History by Donna Tartt 
being placed on the same display table at bookstores. The common concern regarding this, as 
23 
 
 
 
 
he and @thebookleo (2024) say, is that authors in recognizing the widespread success of 
romance books with easy-to-recognize tropes at their center, will begin to write more and more 
books using the same tropes. The problem with this, @accordingtoalina (2023) argues, is that 
these books are only popular within BookTok’s own ecosystem, and that by BookTok creators 
and users rushing out to purchase them, they create a fast fashion-like issue wherein they will 
accumulate so many of these trending books that they will eventually need to discard at least a 
portion of them. While donating them is an option, fast fashion has shown that “trending” items 
most often do not find new owners once their time has passed, creating waste. 
6.1.2.1. BookTok Books 
To explain the BookTok book phenomenon, the creators discussing it turn to fanfiction. As 
@rayareadzzzz (2023) says, Colleen Hoover’s success could be attributed to their similarities 
to fan-written works. Those who missed out on reading fanfiction in their teens, she says, now 
fill that gap reading Hoover’s books. @thebookleo (2024), reflecting on stories with very 
similar concepts being written over and over again, says, “If there’s any place where existing 
stories are being remodeled, sampled and remixed to fit our current needs, it’s fanfiction.” 
(18:15) 
As for the trope system having originated on a fanfiction sharing website, she says, “But now 
a lot of people are talking about books on TikTok, […] and your TikTok For You Page 
recommending a different book to you every single minute, you also become aware of just the 
thousands of books out there that you could be reading. How are you gonna differentiate 
between them, how are you gonna be able to kind of quickly make a decision of which ones 
deserve your attention? I think it’s no surprise that this indexing system that exists on 
[archiveofourown.org] has kind of been co-opted by people on TikTok, so as a viewer you can 
get like a quick idea of which books might be your thing. And yeah of course, you’re not gonna 
get the full complexities of what the book is about, but there are so many books you come 
across, so many titles that you come across on the Internet every single day… You gotta use 
something to, like, make a selection.” (25:57) 
6.1.2.2. BookTok and the Publishing Industry 
Another common criticism is against BookTok’s role in the publishing industry. 
@jack_edwards (2024) believes these fears are unfounded: “What I love about BookTok is that 
it has democratized the publishing industry. […] If you share an authentic, endearing, 
24 
 
 
 
 
captivating book review, that really resonates with someone, they may go out and buy that 
book and really really love it and fall in love with it just as much as you did. There is something 
so powerful about that.” (5:26) 
He says the Colleen Hoovers of the industry have always existed, and they are indubitably 
crucial for publishers so that they are able to take a risk on books which may not have the kind 
of success these blockbuster books do. As for whether or not readers can expect a larger than 
usual output of trope-heavy romantasy books, @jack_edwards says probably, since the 
publishing industry operates on the principles of capitalism, but that readers can influence what 
gets published by intentionally pouring their money into imprints or publishers whose 
publications resonate with them. What matters, he says, is that the publishing industry is 
thriving. @accordingtoalina (2023) disagrees, saying: “Nevertheless, there is a real danger 
[…] that we will soon be heading towards a more homogenous literature due to the influence 
of social media trends on the publishing industry.”(22:35) 
6.1.3. Accelerating Reading Rates 
Another phenomenon many of these creators have commented on is the increase in the number 
of books individuals aim to, and often subsequently do, read. On the popularity of Colleen 
Hoover’s books, @rayareadzzzz (2023) comments: “At times when reading has become quite 
competitive a lot of people turn to these kind of books to just, you know, up their book numbers 
on Goodreads, for example.” (8:59) 
@thebookleo’s (2024) understanding of fanfiction tropes being used for the ease of finding 
books readers like faster thus gains more traction. After recommending books in the video, she 
also adds: “I’m just tryna give you a quick recommendation. Or when publishers put those, 
like, taglines on books, […] obviously that also doesn’t, like, encompass every beautiful 
complex detail of the wonder of that story, but it’s just a quick way to get your attention.” 
(36:57) 
Some creators have even experienced burnout by trying to keep up with the demands of 
platform algorithms (@accordingtoalina, 2023). Though the systems that are urging readers to 
read are seemingly arbitrary, there has still been an increase in the number of books read on 
the community level, and this has been linked to poorer reading experiences. 
@accordingtoalina (2024) believes this is due to an overlap in reading and hustle culture. By 
coming to associate reading with productivity, readers begin to strive to read more and more. 
25 
 
 
 
 
Videos and articles instructing people to read more are gaining popularity. These methods 
include listening to audiobooks at faster playing speeds or while doing chores or other 
activities. As to why people would sacrifice the entertainment value of reading for speed, she 
says this is because being well-read is both professionally and socially desirable. She continues: 
“There’s an idea that in order to be a real reader, you have to constantly produce these huge 
monthly wrap-ups, which are posts in which the creator shows all the books they read that 
month. The more, the better. And there is also this unspoken understanding that every year you 
have to read more than the year before. Otherwise, you will have failed at something.” 
(@accordingtoalina, 2024, 6:18) 
The reading habits presented by bookfluencers thus affect the reading habits of their audiences. 
With book hauls increasingly taking precedent over in-depth reviews or recommendations, the 
focus shifts from reading to purchasing, bringing into question the authenticity of these creators 
as readers (@accordingtoalina, 2024). For bookfluencers, reading more serves a very specific 
purpose. The platforms they utilize to partake in the community operate with the use of 
algorithms, which take the frequency of their posts into account. This encourages them to post 
more without regard to the more natural rate at which they would normally read, which may 
explain the popularity of book hauls, since all they require is the physical presence of books. 
@accordingtoalina (2024) worries that thus popularizing the overconsumption of books will 
alienate people. In her words, “We often find ourselves looking at somebody whose job is to 
make content about books, and who gets book PR from publishers as an example of what is a 
normal amount of books to own, or what the normal amount of books to read in a year might 
be.” (@accordingtoalina, 2024, 18:42) 
6.1.4. Emotions 
Bookfluencers often achieve this connection with their audiences through the emotions they 
show or discuss in their content. Strong emotions, such as hate towards a certain book or author 
like Colleen Hoover generate views, thus growing the creator’s audience (@rayareadzzzz, 
2023). @thebookleo (2024) sees a democratizing potential in this, as the reviewer can be a 
member of the community, a reader, a person who enjoys reading, rather than a “faceless, 
unbiased observer” (39:35). @jack_edwards (2024) finds this empowering as a creator, 
describing the process of finding a book in a secluded corner of a small bookstore, and 
introducing it to millions of people by posting about his love for it. He believes many of the 
critiques against the reading practices seen on BookTok carry a misogynist tone: “[…] things 
26 
 
 
 
 
that generally, majoritively women enjoy, for example boy bands, for example reading, are 
often somehow dismissed as being superficial, frivolous, performative. I don’t think it’s a 
coincidence.” (@jack_edwards, 2024) 
These videos also discuss further positives and negatives of BookTok. They point out the many 
benefits of, or motivators behind reading, such as reading for enjoyment, entertainment, 
education or an emotional connection (@jack_edwards, 2024; @caricanread, 2024; 
@rayareadzzzz, 2023). They also point to the easy accessibility of online reading communities, 
and the joy of being able to share their enthusiasm for certain books with others (@caricanread, 
2024). According to @jack_edwards (2024), BookTok is the world’s biggest bookclub. In his 
words, “Reading is something that is such an enriching, enlightening experience, but it’s 
mostly something that we do in isolation. […] Storytelling is something we have always sought 
to share, and I think that book clubs have been a way of us doing that in a modern capacity.” 
(2:55) 
6.2. Interviews 
6.2.1. Introduction 
As mentioned before, the participants of the interviews are all in their 20s and from similar 
educational backgrounds. For a breakdown of important characteristics of each participant, see 
Appendix 3. They are all readers, but their opinions of, and relationship to online reading 
communities varies along with their tastes in books. Eva, Maya and Olivia all enjoy fantasy, 
with Eva preferring high fantasy, and Maya and Olivia preferring “romantasy”, a sub-genre 
popularized on BookTok which combines elements of romance and fantasy. Sofia likes to read 
mysteries and other fiction. Isabella prefers literary fiction, non-fiction and poetry, occasionally 
reading genre fiction. They all read print copies as well as e-books, with Eva and Isabella also 
using audiobooks.  Eva does not use TikTok, but has encountered BookTok content on other 
platforms, and used to be present on BookTube as a consumer. Isabella, Maya and Sofia have 
all experienced BookTok as consumers, and Olivia has additional experience as a creator. The 
participants reported discovering new books primarily through online reading communities 
with BookTok and Goodreads being the most popular among them, and through their friends. 
Once they have decided on a book they would like to read, they access the books through 
purchasing physical copies or through online downloads, granting them instantaneous access.  
 
27 
 
 
 
 
6.2.2. Owning and Buying Books 
With their use of e-books, owning print copies serves different purposes in the lives of the 
participants. Isabella has always wanted a big home library, but she often changes her mind 
and sells those of her books that she does not intend to read anymore. Maya emphasized the 
convenience of e-readers especially for traveling but said that she might switch back to 
purchasing print copies once she has a more permanent place. For Olivia, books are also 
comfort items, and she always carries a copy with her, even if she knows she will not have time 
to read. Eva shared her experience of non-readers commenting on her bookshelves and making 
assumptions about her based on the number of books she has. According to her, books can be 
almost like decoration if they are not read. Despite this, all of the participants have either 
firsthand or secondhand experiences of buying books but not reading them.  
Olivia: “[As] much as I'm a book reader, I'm a book consumer, like I buy a lot of books, 
even though I haven't read them.” 
Isabella describes the thrill of browsing and buying books but believes that this has nothing to 
do with books but with the act of making a new purchase. All of the participants are aware of 
the influence online reading communities and BookTok in particular, has had on book sales.  
Sofia: “I mean, there's been a lot of books that I'd seen before in like the corner. And 
then I see them on BookTok like a month later. And then they're like, oh, top seller.” 
6.2.3. BookTok Books 
They are all familiar with the BookTok display tables seen at bookstores, and find these 
displays funny, and embarrassing to different degrees. Eva believes she would not be able to 
find a book she would enjoy displayed on the table. Though she does like some of the books 
which have become popular on BookTok as well, her interest in them is independent of 
BookTok. Olivia finds the displays funny, precisely because of the differences between the 
displayed books. Both Sofia and Maya believe that the books on the table seem to be for 
younger audiences, making the display “childish”. For Sofia, this causes negative feelings, 
while for Maya, it causes a sense of disconnect between her sense of self and how she believes 
she is perceived when browsing the table.  
Maya: “I swear I'm [in university], I'm smart, I just like I like easy reads sometimes.”  
28 
 
 
 
 
Isabella believes most of the books on the table are “garbage books”, which is what she 
considers romantasy books as well as books my authors like Colleen Hoover. Eva also echoes 
this opinion, calling these books “objectively bad”. 
6.2.4. Emotions and BookTok 
Isabella, Eva and Sofia all feel that BookTok can be repetitive in its recommendations, which 
is also reflected on the display table. Maya, for the most part, likes the books BookTok has 
recommended her, but feels that they can sometimes be blown out of proportion, so she has 
been more careful with her selection process, and does her research on the books recommended 
to her before reading them. Isabella and Sofia have also experienced this. 
Sofia: “I feel like sometimes they take one book and they're like, oh this is the best book 
in the world. Yeah. It's okay.”  
In the participants’ experiences, BookTok creators tend to express extreme opinions, either 
describing a book as life-changing, or hating it without nuance. For Isabella, this causes her to 
doubt the authenticity of the creators. With BookTok content focusing on emotions in this way, 
she believes there is no real need to actually read the books discussed in the videos. 
Furthermore, bookfluencers must be careful with the opinions they express, and Isabella 
believes this can lead them to pretend to like popular books so that they are not ostracized by 
the community. Olivia, Maya and Sofia believe bookfluencers to be genuine and see the 
community as generally honest and accepting. Furthermore, many of the participants take joy 
in the way BookTok is popularizing and creating communities around reading. Eva, Isabella, 
Maya and Olivia all mentioned partaking in book clubs, and Olivia shared her experiences of 
creating bonds through social media with readers from across the globe. Since many of the 
participants belong to reading communities, they see reading as a social activity, with tracking 
through Goodreads as an important aspect.  
6.2.5. Tracking Reading 
They all use Goodreads to keep a record of the books they read. Maya and Olivia use additional 
methods that are just for their own sake, while Eva and Isabella have both tried Storygraph, an 
alternative to Goodreads, but are both still more active on Goodreads because their friends are 
not on Storygraph and the community aspect is important to both of them.  
29 
 
 
 
 
Eva: “I don't think I would track [my reading] if I wasn't going to share it with people.”  
Sofia and Maya both started using Goodreads after a friend recommended it to them.  
Sofia: “I think it's a fun way for both me and my friends to see like what we're reading, 
what we're doing, what's going on.” 
Olivia and Eva joined after seeing bookfluencers use Goodreads on BookTok and BookTube 
respectively. 
Eva: “[…] I saw that everybody on BookTube was talking about it, and talking about 
the reading challenges, and how much they were [reading].” 
Isabella describes her process of using Goodreads. When she sees a book she wants to read 
either when her friends are reading it or when the app recommends it, she marks it as want-to-
read. When she begins reading it, she marks it as currently-reading, then as finished once she 
is done with the book. Eva and Sofia also note their progress, logging pages or percentages. 
Many of the participants use the 5-star rating system Goodreads offers as a quick way to take 
note of their feelings on the book. Maya and Olivia, who have additional ways of tracking their 
reading which require adding a more in-depth review or a synopsis of the book both added that 
they are less consistent with these as they take more time. For Isabella, it is precisely the 
simplicity of Goodreads that has caused her not to rate the books she is reading, as she feels 
she cannot convey a complex reading experience on a 5-point scale. 
For most of the participants, the motivation behind tracking is to archive their reading history 
and to keep a record of their usually brief feelings of the books they read so that they can look 
back on these in the future to remember what they read and how they felt about it. Isabella 
describes feeling a sense of obligation to rate a book as soon as she is finished reading it, which 
makes her feel guilty for not reflecting on it first. 
Isabella: “[…] I'm like, well, I finished it. Gotta rate it. I feel like that's something that 
Goodreads imposed on me, like I didn't use to think that way.” 
Apart from just acting as an archive for their reading history, Goodreads also provides some 
statistics of users’ ongoing reading achievements. 
30 
 
 
 
 
Eva: “Like the other thing that I love to see is like the end of the year wrap up of all of 
the books that I've read, the reviews that I've written, all of the average pages that I've 
read, the longest shortest book. I love to see that just to know how much and how I read 
in the year.” 
All of the participants have used the feature of Goodreads that allow users to set a reading goal 
for the year. Eva, Isabella, Olivia and Sofia all reported setting a lower goal so that it is easier 
to reach, feeling a sense of accomplishment when they do, but they still read more. To do so, 
they use different methods and approaches, including multitasking, reading in off-times, or 
reading shorter books. 
Eva: “Like, I, whenever I'm like, getting ready for the day, cooking, anything that 
doesn't require a lot of brain power, I’m listening to audiobooks, and whenever I have 
a free moment, even if I'm just going to the bathroom, I grab my Kindle and read. So 
I'm constantly reading as much as I can.” 
Isabella: “I feel like... I always gravitate towards smaller books. And you know why? 
Because I think a 500-page book is gonna take me more time to read.” 
Maya and Sofia noted that being a part of online reading communities has played a role in their 
increased reading.  
6.2.6. Downsides of Accelerated Reading Rates 
When asked what they would consider the most difficult aspect of being a bookfluencer, Eva, 
Isabella, Maya and Sofia all included standing out by creating different content as important. 
Olivia, who has experience with creating content for BookTok, felt that keeping up with the 
reading pace demanded by the platform was the most difficult aspect.  
Olivia: “I think kind of drawing the line and separating your reading because you love 
reading and reading because you feel like you need to create more content. […] I just 
want to read stories, I just want to read and share it with the world. But no, because I 
haven't posted in four days and people will start noticing or unfollowing and I'm not 
growing and my videos are not showing as much. […] So I think that, for me, was the 
biggest challenge that you start reading so much because you want to create content. 
Then yet you kind of lose the actual value or what it gave you beforehand because of 
31 
 
 
 
 
that. So I think that would be for me in my experience, that would be like the hardest, 
hardest thing on the long run.” 
Isabella describes a similar sense of a sort of alienation after reading a lot of genre fiction. She 
experienced similar feelings spending time on social media and spending her time reading. 
Even when she was not enjoying herself, she still engaged in these activities, causing her to 
question why. 
Isabella: “I’m like, a very influenceable person. So maybe I've read a lot of things that 
maybe I shouldn't have and that have like, stolen my motivation to read a little bit, you 
know, that made me feel a little bit like it was more screen time and more of, you know, 
more of nothing.” 
6.2.7. Reading for Deceleration and Escapism 
The participants also described feeling more productive when they read for pleasure rather than 
use other forms of entertainment. 
Sofia: “I find it entertaining; I find it to be like a very relaxing activity. But at the same 
time, I feel like I'm being productive and just learning something.” 
On the other hand, participants also reported reading for the purposes of slowing down. Eva, 
Maya and Isabella all described the negative feelings “screen time”, or the amount of time 
spent using devices with screen whether it is for work or for leisure evokes in them. They read 
as a way to Maya feels that “hustle culture” makes it difficult to engage in reading for pleasure, 
so she has to intentionally make time to read as a way of disconnecting. 
Eva: “Because it's my favorite hobby ever, but because of social media and all of that, 
it's very easy to just not do anything productive and scroll. And I hate scrolling, I hate 
how it makes me feel. So I know that the way to fix that is by doing something I really 
like, even though it's like reading still is a bit harder, you know, like, it takes more brain 
power than scrolling, most things do, in the end.” 
Isabella decided not to set a yearly reading goal this year and to focus on the quality of the 
books she reads rather than their quantity. 
 
32 
 
 
 
 
6.2.8. Emotional Reading Experiences 
For Maya and Olivia, books also serve the purpose of not only disconnecting from, but briefly 
escaping everyday concerns through reading. Olivia describes the intense emotions she is able 
to experience through reading. 
Olivia: “I can be very very very sad and heartbroken and depressed because of 
something that happened in a book and the only source of joy that I could have one day 
could be because a very nice thing that happened in a book. […] I mean, life can give 
you so many emotions. [Life] has never done what a book has done for me in a sense 
of how many emotions can you read in two hours? Or can you have in two hours?” 
How much a book touches them also depends on their current situation. If a story resonates 
with how they are currently feeling, the emotional connection will be stronger, which shines 
through in the way they describe books. 
Though all of the participants read primarily for pleasure, they all describe a strong separation 
between books that are purely for entertainment and books that serve a more specific purpose 
such as aiding self-improvement. 
Isabella: “There are books that don't make you think, they make you laugh, where they 
make you happy or whatever, and there are books that make you think, and you may 
like them and you may not like them, but they make you think, they make you reflect or 
something and they stay with you, they make you feel, you know. I feel like there's a 
difference.” 
Isabella expressed an interest in listening to books that are purely for entertainment as 
audiobooks while working as she believes their lack of quality might make reading them the 
traditional way a “waste of her time”. Maya also mentioned having different reading 
preferences for different kinds of books. She prefers to read books that only serve the purpose 
of entertainment on her own, while reading non-fiction books is done better as part of a book 
club that facilitates discussions to maximize learning. 
Precisely because of this difference, participants believe that being a reader alone cannot 
convey any information about one’s intellect as reading genre fiction only serves the purpose 
of entertainment, whereas non-fiction books are educational. 
33 
 
 
 
 
Isabella: “Reading in itself, like, reading anything, reading whatever, [it’s] not a good 
thing. You know, it's not like, like we're not giving you a prize for that. [...] I feel like 
reading has this connotation of like, it's better, it's like an intellectual activity. Reading, 
it's good, like it makes you smarter, [it doesn't matter] what you read and I truly do not 
believe that. Like, I don't believe that if you're reading fairy porn constantly, it's gonna 
make you smarter, it's gonna give you more vocabulary, and it's gonna give you more 
critical thought.” 
When asked why they read, participants described their primary motivations. 
Eva: “I just find it so fun.” 
Isabella: “I know I said a lot of contrary things, I guess, but I read because I like it.” 
Olivia: “I read because it makes me feel less alone.” 
Maya: “To take my mind off life, I guess.” 
Sofia: “So I love reading to relate to relax to entertain myself, to learn as well. I think 
it's a very, like, complete activity in the sense that you're doing a lot of things with it.” 
7. Discussion 
Social practices are made up of three elements, materials, competences and meanings. In the 
case of reading in the digital context, technological devices and digital platforms have been 
introduced as new materials, which, in the hands of generations of technological natives with 
the skills to make use of these new materials, have and are transforming reading as a social 
practice (Shove et al., 2012). Both the videos and the interviews collected for analysis here 
show that e-readers such as Kindles, smart devices with access to digital platforms such as 
smartphones, and digital platforms such as TikTok and Goodreads have become integral parts 
of the reading experience for many. Furthermore, apart from just the introduction of wholly 
new materials which are relatively new inventions, readers’ relationship to print copies is also 
changing.  
Readers in online reading communities have been found to experience negative feelings when 
their purchasing abilities do not align with those seemingly dictated by bookfluencer content 
(Perkins, 2017). The reading practices depicted in these videos are seen by their audiences, in 
34 
 
 
 
 
essence, as templates to follow. Sweeney-Romero (2022) describes the process through which 
the simple presentation of an influencer’s routine and habits turns instructional, presenting a 
very specific way to be and to act as more desirable, creating conflict when someone is unable 
to keep up with or perform the same routines. BookTokers have been found to read up to 10 
books a month alongside the use of social media (Martens et al., 2022). BookTok and 
Bookstagram content is often focused on buying and displaying books rather than reading 
them, further incentivizing owning books (Dezuanni et al., 2022). With solutions such as online 
downloads or libraries to delimit the books available for consumptions, bookfluencers are able 
to transform the meaning of reading on a community level by increasing what is considered to 
be a “normal” amount to read.  
Perhaps the most consistent among all five interviewees was their use of Goodreads to track 
and share their reading.   They all joined the platform for a way to connect with other readers 
and as a way to keep a record of their reading. With increased reading rates, one can see why 
readers may feel the need to do so. While the overt sociality of online reading communities has 
already been discussed, it is also important to mention the hidden social processes in using 
digital tools for one’s reading. Through highlights and comments left on Kindle devices while 
reading, Amazon collects data from readers, as well as user data from Goodreads to make 
specifically tailored book recommendations (Pianzola, 2021). With Goodreads facilitating self-
tracking, users provide this data willingly (Birke, 2021). 
The most unique commodity of Goodreads are the written reviews, as the real human emotions 
depicted in them are more likely to result in book sales, essentially placing emotions on virtual 
shelves (Murray, 2019). This is only one way in which emotions become commodities in the 
digital book world. By creating parasocial interactions, audiences of bookfluencers build 
emotional connections with them, and while the bonds formed this way may be important for 
both the reader and the bookfluencer, it also serves the purpose of gaining followers and 
increasing audience engagement with the content they produce using market logic (Dezuanni 
et al., 2022). Another form of this is when an emotional review posted by a bookfluencer is 
able to sell a reader a book so that they can experience the same emotions seen in the video 
(Birke & Fehrle, 2018). 
With a constant stream of recommendations, readers are left with the need to choose what they 
will or will not read. Therefore, books may be seen as either worthy or unworthy of one’s time. 
The remaining, “worthy” books are still often substantial, so readers are encouraged to read 
35 
 
 
 
 
more by means of reading faster or multitasking by listening to audiobooks while carrying out 
another activity. Rosa (2013) calls this speeding up and condensing. There are also signs of 
deceleration in the forms of readers reading to slow down and to disconnect and re-charge. 
While book unhauls may be seen as another form of deceleration, however, based on Crary’s 
(2013) argument, the rapid acquiring then discarding of books is a way to show one is up to 
date and keeping up with the most recent trends. 
Based on the information presented here, the research questions can be answered as follows: 
RQ1: How do digital platforms and especially TikTok transform reading as a social practice? 
This thesis focuses on reading for pleasure, a way of reading that is voluntary and done as a 
leisure activity. Based on Shove et al. (2012), when an element of a practice is changed, 
engaging in the practice carries with it the chance of transforming it. In the case of reading, 
digital tools have affected all three elements. Books are available instantaneously, decreasing 
the time spent between books, and coexist with smartphones. Digital natives possess both 
literacy and digital literacy, introducing a new competence. These elements are not derived 
from BookTok and other digital platforms but are still related to them. When a reader possesses 
the skills and devices needed to use social media platforms, online reading communities form. 
Meanings are transformed by a set of new motivations behind reading and the very meaning of 
what it means to be a reader becoming closely associated with buying and owning books. Self-
tracking through Goodreads has also become an important part of reading. Bookfluencers have 
been referred to as bridges connecting the very solitary act of reading to the social. However, 
as we have seen, reading is, and has always been, a social practice (Perkins, 2017). 
Digitalization has transformed this practice, but it did not bring reading into the social field. 
What we can see is that reading has become public. 
RQ2: How can the popularity of BookTok be explained through critical sociological theories 
of time and emotions? 
According to Reddan (2022), BookTok’s popularity lies in the fast-paced video content as well 
as the need for escapism reaching new heights during the pandemic. However, theories of 
social acceleration and emotional capitalism provide a different context for this analysis. 
Technological devices capable of both displaying e-books and of accessing online reading 
communities are commonly needed for working, and with a continuous stream of new 
inventions that are meant to minimize the time we need to spend on activities, there is a growing 
36 
 
 
 
 
pressure to read more and to read constantly. Emotions become closely intertwined with market 
processes to maximize book sales, and with pressures to increase not only one’s online 
following but also to improve oneself, books prove to be a particularly important asset. Since 
the new materials, competences and meanings are all integral to global capitalism, the reason 
behind the widespread popularity of BookTook takes shape (Shove et al., 2012). 
Reading is seen as virtuous and reading more increases this. BookTok is then a supportive 
community in which algorithmically suggested, emotional content helps minimize the time 
needed to find new books to read, and where readers engaging in the digitally transformed 
reading practice are able to connect. Birke (2021) warns against the interpretation of the 
emphasis on consumerism, competition, and self-improvement in online reading communities 
as signs that readers are turning into neoliberal subjects. To Birke, these are all rooted in a 
genuine appreciation for books and reading and are a way of facilitating community 
engagement. It must be considered, however, that BookTok answers many of the questions or 
needs that arise from pressures to read more, to continuously strive for self-improvement, and 
to engage in self-tracking, which provides data to be sold. Both bookfluencers and readers 
consuming their content have had both negative and positive experiences in the community, 
but they generally view online reading communities as positive. 
What does this mean for the future of reading? Shove et al. (2012) discussed the practice of 
home baking as an example of a practice whose elements have though become defunct, have 
been resurrected, though with permanently changed meanings. As of reading, and more 
specifically, books, we can already see that with e-readers and smartphones an already 
integrated part of the digitized reading practice, there is technically no need for physical copies, 
yet both the previous research and the empirical findings presented here show that print copies 
of books are still preferred. Where literacy, digital literacy and access to digital devices is a 
given, the reading practices popularized through online reading communities can be expected 
to persist. Another crucial aspect is the capitalist power structures which sustain the desire for 
a fast-paced world and a continuous desire to reach unreachable goals of self-improvement and 
self-optimalization. 
 
8. Limitations and Further Research 
The empirical material collected for this thesis is only able to cover a brief insight into the 
social practice of reading in digital spaces. Quantitative methods should be used to confirm the 
37 
 
 
 
 
prevalence of these reading practices, and to gain a better understanding of the role online 
reading communities play in their transformation. Additionally, further information is needed 
on how Goodreads is associated with increasing reading rates. The sense of alienation caused 
by highly accelerated reading rates and how this is understood by readers is also important to 
consider. 
 
9. Conclusion 
This thesis set out to gain a better understanding of how digital platforms such as TikTok or 
Goodreads transform reading as a social practice and utilizes sociological theories of time and 
emotion to understand why BookTok has become so popular. Videos created by bookfluencers 
and interviews with readers who are part of online reading communities were collected. The 
findings indicate that the reading practices popularized through online reading communities 
focus strongly on book buying, tracking reading through Goodreads and increasing the number 
of books read. The popularity of BookTok can be understood with the consideration of theories 
of social acceleration and emotional capitalism, which show that capitalist market logic 
incentivizes the adoption of these reading practices. Online reading communities are 
reminiscent of historical reading communities, but utilize social media platforms, where 
reading becomes public. 
  
38 
 
 
 
 
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11. Appendices 
 
11.1. Appendix 1. - Interview guide 
● What are your favorite genres to read? 
● Could you describe a book you’ve recently read and loved? 
● Where do you get your book recommendations? 
● What reading formats do you prefer and why? (Audiobook, ebooks, print) 
● How do you normally access the books you read? 
● How does reading fit into your daily life? 
● How do you think books compare to other forms of entertainment such as TV or 
YouTube? 
● Do you think reading is a social activity? Why or why not? 
● What do you think about BookTok? 
● Do you track your reading in some way? 
o When and why did you start? 
o Could you describe your tracking process? 
o What is the most important aspect of tracking for you? 
●  Do you set yearly reading goals? What is your experience with this? 
● What role does the length of a book play in your decision to pick it up? 
● If you’re watching bookish content online, what do you want to see? What catches 
your eye, and what holds your attention? 
● How do you feel about the following statement: “Book buying and book reading are 
two different hobbies”? 
● How do you think online reader communities relate to book sales? 
● How do you feel about the BookTok display table at bookstores? 
● What do you think the biggest challenge for a BookTok creator might be? 
● In your opinion, how authentic are BookTok, BookTube videos? 
● Has the social aspect changed how you read? How so? 
● Do you wish your current reading habits were different? What would you change 
about them? 
● When you tell someone you’re a reader, what do you think it says about you? 
● Why do you read? 
 
  
43 
 
 
 
 
11.2. Appendix 2. - Codebook 
 
Themes Codes What is included 
Entertainment, Entertainment as 
escapism motivation 
Meanings Self-improvement Learning, improving as motivation 
Community Connecting through books as motivation 
Books Accessing books, BookTok books 
Kindle, iPad, physical 
Materials Preferred formats copies 
Goodreads, BookTok, 
Social media Bookstagram, 
BookTube, 
Social practices 
Competences Literacy, digital and Generational otherwise competences 
Reading and gender Women’s reading practices 
What counts as 
Reading reading? Readers and 
bookfluencers 
Reading practices How modern reading History of reading communities have 
communities evolved from 
historical communities 
The books a reader 
High-brow, low-brow chooses influence how they are seen, genre 
fiction 
Emotions evoked by 
Reviews and books used in content 
recommendations whose partial purpose is to generate 
engagement 
Commodification Emotions 
Emotional experiences Emotional experiences of reading 
Parasocial Bookfluencers 
relationships facilitating and 
44 
 
 
 
 
encouraging 
parasocial 
relationships to 
establish an emotional 
connection 
BookTok engagement 
being used in the 
Publishing marketing of books, 
BookTok books, 
fanfiction 
BookTok emphasizes 
Love/hate strong emotions, love 
relationships or hate but not in-
between 
Communities and 
emotional bonds 
Community within them form 
through reading 
communities 
Reading for 
entertainment seen as 
Productivity less of a waste of time than other forms of 
entertainment, sense 
Time of achievement 
Buying books in hopes 
of improving by 
Self-improvement reading them, or in 
hopes of being seen as 
improved 
Speeding up Reading faster 
Reading more, 
Increasing quantification through 
Acceleration Goodreads 
Social acceleration Multitasking by 
Condensation reading more while engaging in other 
activities 
Deceleration Reading as a means of slowing down 
BookTok display table BookTok books 
Consumerism 
Book buying habits  
45 
 
 
 
 
Positives Pros of BookTok 
BookTok evaluation 
Negatives Contra of Bookok 
 
  
46 
 
 
 
 
11.3. Appendix 3. - Interviewee table 
 Eva Isabella Maya Olivia Sofia 
Fantasy, 
Dark literary Romance, 
Genres Academia, 
fiction, fantasy, self- romance and 
historical mysteries, help, self- fantasy and 
mystery, 
fiction, non-fiction, improvemen romantasy 
fiction 
mysteries poetry t 
E-books, 
Formats Audiobooks, print, Print and e- Print and e- Print and e-e-books audiobooks books books books 
Goodreads 
Tracking Goodreads, Goodreads, Goodreads and a 
StoryGraph Storygraph and Notion reading Goodreads 
journal 
Downloads, Buys them Buys them Buys them 
Sourcing Downloads buys them, or gets them or or 
library, gifts from friends downloads downloads them them 
Is not on 
TikTok, but Is on 
BookTok has seen Is on Is on BookTok Is on 
experience BookTok BookTok as BookTok as 
both as a 
consumer BookTok as content on a consumer a consumer 
other and as a 
a consumer 
platforms creator 
BookTok, BookTok, 
Recommen Goodreads, Citations, 
BookTube, 
BookTok, Bookstagra Bookstagra
dations friends Goodreads, friends friends m, 
m, 
Goodreads, Goodreads, 
Kindle store friends 
 
47