Social Media Is Changing The Way We Choose Our Books . . . For Worse?

Bookstore browsing is the best!

We’ve all witnessed the explosion of BookTok, Bookstagram, BookTube, and all other book-related corners of the internet in the past few years. Reactions to all of this social media book content continue to be mixed. Some say they’re glad that so many people are into reading and that it’s seemed to regain popularity. Others claim that all of this is the death of personal reading taste—that people are only reading books that go viral online, and therefore that we’re now all reading the same things just for the sake of being able to say we read the most popular books.

I find myself somewhere in the middle. I consume and enjoy a healthy amount of book content on Instagram and YouTube. As an editor, I want to stay in the loop with what’s coming out, what readers are loving, and so on. As a reader, I like keeping up with my favorite authors and watching my favorite YouTubers talk about what they’re reading. Though lately I try to stay away from social media as much as possible, I gravitate toward this kind of content when I do get on it.

But I will say, I think it’s like any kind of social media—a certain amount can be great, and there is such a thing as too much. When anything is taken to the extreme, it’s not great. I see how many people are exclusively using social media trends to determine what to read. More and more I find myself wondering what happened to browsing a bookstore and discovering books on one’s own.

Have you walked into a Barnes and Noble lately? If you have, you’ve seen the dozens of tables that you have to weave around to get to the rest of the store. Many of these tables are themed around different genres and holidays, which can be useful. But now there are usually at least a few labeled something like “#BookTok” and even specific trends from social media. These tables have the same books that appear on social media over and over and over. And yes, I’ve read and enjoyed many of them! I’m not trying to say these books that go super viral are bad. I just believe that we’ve become either narrow-minded or lazy when it comes to choosing what to read.

I think if you’re only reading what you see on social media, you’re missing out! I know it’s easy to be influenced by constantly seeing five-star reviews and must-read endorsements, and feeling like you don’t want to miss out. The internet is a great way for books to gain exposure. There’s nothing inherently bad about that. I just mean that if you are unwilling to read a book you haven’t seen online a million times, you’re really limiting your experience!

I often see people online say things like, “Well, I’m not going to read this because I haven’t heard anyone talk about it yet. I don’t know if it will be good.” I’ve also heard, “This one has so many good reviews, so I know I’m going to love it.”

Really? Is that how we’re deciding what to read? We’re letting other people’s opinions dictate our own? Don’t get me wrong, reviews and recommendations from others can be really helpful, especially between people who have favorite books in common. But they shouldn’t be the sole reason we do or don’t pick up a book. I’d love to ask the people who choose books this way: If you’re only going by what everyone else thinks of the books you read, how do you know what you actually think of them?

This is my whole point here. Social media is not all bad. It’s a great way for publishers, authors, and readers to share books! Sharing and receiving recommendations and opinions isn’t inherently a bad thing either. My point is that when you require a book to have a bunch of hype around it plus five-star reviews from your reader friends before you’ll even give it the time of day, you’re really missing out!

I believe there should be no shame in reading the books you enjoy. The key there is choosing books because you want to read them. Either because you generally like that genre, you’ve enjoyed that author’s other books, you want to try out a new genre, or you want to learn something specific! In my opinion, those are much better reasons (and will lead you to understanding your personal reading taste) than just “Other people liked it, so that means I should.” Or worse! “I was interested in this book, but so-and-so didn’t like this, so I’m not even going to read it.”

I’ve been trying to get back to how I used to read. Before social media, before I could go online and have thousands of people telling me what I should and shouldn’t read. I’m reminding myself what my favorite books are and why I love them. I’m remembering that just because a book wasn’t published by a major publisher or hasn’t been all over the internet and shelved in everyone’s Goodreads, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a great book for me.

There are so many books out there, many of which you’ll never see go viral. But you never know which ones will impact you personally and become a favorite. Reading is so much more fun and rewarding when you discover your personal taste—and notice it change as you change!

So let’s continue to talk to each other about what we’re reading and the books we love, but let’s remember that everyone’s reading experience is unique. It’s not something that should limit us. It’s something we should celebrate!