TikTok took the world by storm during the COVID pandemic in 2020, becoming a place for people to communicate and interact while being locked in their homes. Under the hashtag “BookTok,” which has more than 39 million posts, the biggest community for readers around the globe grew, taking bookstores, bestseller lists and the publishing industry by storm. Although this online community brought many opportunities for authors to be recognized for their work and introduce many to the act of reading, there is no doubt that the clash between internet trends and reading has also caused harmful changes to the literature of our generation. 

One fault of BookTok is how it has changed the purpose of reading. While some individuals use this online community to have meaningful discussions about stories with others who share their taste, the majority of BookTok is occupied by readers who value the number of books they read over the act of reading itself. Many creatives use this platform to showcase aesthetic bookshelves with hundreds of untouched, unread books and set unrealistic reading goals.

This redefines the primary meaning of reading from analyzing literary work, learning about oneself and society from the writer and expanding one’s knowledge, reducing it down to a “hot girl hobby.” BookTok can sway readers to reading certain genres — particularly romance, self-help and fantasy — instead of guiding them to a reading community that would welcome them and their tastes because of how the TikTok algorithm functions. Overall, despite BookTok being a platform in which people are introduced to books, it turns reading into another trend and can make the process less enjoyable and fulfilling for many members of the community. 

The publishing industry has always followed trends and patterns in books, and BookTok has played a huge role in constructing the world of literature in our day and age. One example of how BookTok has helped writers is Alex Aster, who, after receiving many rejections for her young adult novel “Lightlark,” took it to her own hands to showcase her art through her social media. Her novel premise received a lot of attention from the community, helping her get a six-figure publishing deal and a Universal movie deal which are unheard of for new authors in the industry.

Meanwhile, many authors find having to create their personal brand a frustrating task. Many publishing houses have started to favor an author’s following in accepting to represent their work, which pressures aspiring writers to try to appeal to readers in BookTok in order to raise their chances, but not having a social media presence has never been a dealbreaker. Social media marketing has become the most daunting part of trying to find a place in the vast business, but overall, it does more good than harm and makes finding a supporting audience easier for writers.

The rise of BookTok also brought tropes — a plot device or character archetype that is used so commonly in the genre— into popularity. From “enemies to lovers” to “sad girl,” tropes have helped shape smaller groups of readers with the same specific interests. This has been one of the most destructive aspects of social media in literature. Many readers have begun to purchase and cherish books solely because of a certain trope, scene, or character archetype without stepping out of this comfort zone.

Readers influenced by BookTok often sacrifice great works of literature for books that check off most of the “trope” boxes. Advertising books in such a manner doesn’t allow creativity and innovation in writing and also results in over-saturation in the publishing industry. A surge of trope-filled, rushed and unedited books are hitting the market, most of which lack the main essence of works of literature: a central message. While many writers such as Aster advertise their work with tropes, which helps them grab the attention of consumers more easily and pitch their work, many find having to fit into a certain box frustrating.

One example is Olivia Petter, a freelance journalist who expressed in a 2024 article in the Independent that she would want the “sad girl” trope to be applied to her debut novel “Gold Rush.” She said to the Independent that her piece is complex and nuanced and would be reduced if marketed to fit this prompt, a feeling that many writers who are attached to their creative work share.

In the past two decades, readership has been declining significantly, but the surge in book sales ensures that the industry will remain steady, according to Publishers Weekly. The fact that literature has turned into a business is a brutally honest truth, and BookTok plays a huge role in what gets published, what sells and what succeeds. Literature is a way to connect ideas, beliefs and most importantly, people, and readers must continue to consume stories to their fullest extent despite how trends reduce books to tropes and numbers