According to Alina | Why is booktok discourse so shallow? @accordingtoalina | Uploaded May 2024 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
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YouTube has been taken over by "booktok bad" videos and after watching an inordinate amount of them, I got a sneaky feeling that although they are very good at explaining what Booktok is bad at, these videos might not be that "good" themselves.
Does Booktok have an overconsumption problem? Yes. Are reading aesthetics a bit cringe? Also yes.
And yes, the "spicy" book community can be a weird place at times. Certainly, one that comedian YouTubers can easily poke fun at.
But is that enough to throw around the "booktok is ruining literature" claim journalists and commentators love to clickbait with so much?
timestamps:
00:00 - I try to convince you I'm not a booktok apologist
01:19 - everyone's favourite scapegoat: the spicy book ladies
2:30 - "the problem with booktok is that it's performative"
5:21 - romance readers and being an intellectual online
9:12 - booktok is not just romance and spicy books FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
10:11 - the "tropeification" of literature
11:42 - the death of negative reviews
13:13 - caveat: some of the spicy book people are just unhinged
13:54 - the romance/ spicy book moral panic
19:45 - romance and erotica books have always been bestsellers
21:00 - critical thinking ≠ being a hater
23:30 - criticizing booktok gets views
the sources on this were all included on screen, sorry if I miss some of the links
videos mentioned:
Cyber Noop: youtube.com/watch?v=cwS2Qt0wexA&t=104s
Aydin Atush: youtube.com/watch?v=R92UY6HoxGY&t=22s
RayLikeSunshine: youtube.com/watch?v=2CuuTCbo3vo&t=23s
Chad Chad: youtube.com/watch?v=rCQpkI6waYs&t=20s
Alisha not Alihsha: youtube.com/watch?v=S3v6aY8LSXo&t=821s
youtube.com/watch?v=mC0rTfDe7DI&t=810s
Princess Weekes: youtube.com/watch?v=54v0KJZJuyw&t=1945s
Jack Edwards: youtube.com/watch?v=xtG4OKU7q-M&t=1789s
Alice Cappelle: youtube.com/watch?v=dmMDikbHgTc&t=24s
my previous video about romance books being "bad for women": youtube.com/watch?v=dczTv_J__Dg&t=1117s
the substack essay:
madisonhuizinga.substack.com/p/booktok-is-turning-books-into-commodities
NYT article about Penguin Random House CEO:
nytimes.com/2024/01/30/books/penguin-random-house-nihar-malaviya.html
#booktok
Head to squarespace.com/accordingtoalina to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code ACCORDINGTOALINA
YouTube has been taken over by "booktok bad" videos and after watching an inordinate amount of them, I got a sneaky feeling that although they are very good at explaining what Booktok is bad at, these videos might not be that "good" themselves.
Does Booktok have an overconsumption problem? Yes. Are reading aesthetics a bit cringe? Also yes.
And yes, the "spicy" book community can be a weird place at times. Certainly, one that comedian YouTubers can easily poke fun at.
But is that enough to throw around the "booktok is ruining literature" claim journalists and commentators love to clickbait with so much?
timestamps:
00:00 - I try to convince you I'm not a booktok apologist
01:19 - everyone's favourite scapegoat: the spicy book ladies
2:30 - "the problem with booktok is that it's performative"
5:21 - romance readers and being an intellectual online
9:12 - booktok is not just romance and spicy books FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
10:11 - the "tropeification" of literature
11:42 - the death of negative reviews
13:13 - caveat: some of the spicy book people are just unhinged
13:54 - the romance/ spicy book moral panic
19:45 - romance and erotica books have always been bestsellers
21:00 - critical thinking ≠ being a hater
23:30 - criticizing booktok gets views
the sources on this were all included on screen, sorry if I miss some of the links
videos mentioned:
Cyber Noop: youtube.com/watch?v=cwS2Qt0wexA&t=104s
Aydin Atush: youtube.com/watch?v=R92UY6HoxGY&t=22s
RayLikeSunshine: youtube.com/watch?v=2CuuTCbo3vo&t=23s
Chad Chad: youtube.com/watch?v=rCQpkI6waYs&t=20s
Alisha not Alihsha: youtube.com/watch?v=S3v6aY8LSXo&t=821s
youtube.com/watch?v=mC0rTfDe7DI&t=810s
Princess Weekes: youtube.com/watch?v=54v0KJZJuyw&t=1945s
Jack Edwards: youtube.com/watch?v=xtG4OKU7q-M&t=1789s
Alice Cappelle: youtube.com/watch?v=dmMDikbHgTc&t=24s
my previous video about romance books being "bad for women": youtube.com/watch?v=dczTv_J__Dg&t=1117s
the substack essay:
madisonhuizinga.substack.com/p/booktok-is-turning-books-into-commodities
NYT article about Penguin Random House CEO:
nytimes.com/2024/01/30/books/penguin-random-house-nihar-malaviya.html
#booktok
