Dear boomers you are bored, the boys still read (take a tour on social networks)
From TikTok to Twitter, via Facebook and Instagram, generation Z have created social circles to talk about books, but boomers often don't know it. Mario Marchi's virtual journey in these discreetly frequented niches
“If instead of being on social networks all the time, they read some good books…”. A common boomer's invective, denied, in reality, precisely by those same digital media. Not that literature is exactly at the top of the topics dealt with by young users, but if you look carefully, you will find interesting niches, even moderately frequented ones.
The most recent case concerns the social network of the Z generation par excellence, TikTok.
For some months now, when connecting to review the reels proposed by the algorithm, a small red icon in the shape of a bowed package appears, which leads to a section entitled BookTok.
The curious icon refers to the possibility of receiving a gift by bringing a friend to the section: a voucher to spend on Amazon. But above all, the icon refers to a section in which hundreds of creators post their videos that have books as a common theme. Reviews, advice, but also ironic comments, typical actions of reels such as unboxing, i.e. the live unpacking, of course, of book boxes.
Let's be clear, we are not dealing with a community of large numbers, but among the top creators, there are some who even reach 350,000 followers and animate an original dedicated section, in which we talk about nothing but literature. All the typical behaviors of the social network are declined to the theme, not only the tone of the videos, but even the famous challenges: one that has become popular is "Flip the Cover", in which users turn the cover of a book to reveal the title and author name. Naturally, hashtags are also launched that concern literary genres, titles, authors.
However, TikTok is only the most recent case of social networks dedicating space to books.
Twitter offers Twitter Book Club, not a section, but rather an online event where participants from all over the world read and discuss a book chosen together on the social network. The book selection process can be done by voting or proposal by a moderator. Once the book has been chosen, participants have a set period of time to read it and share their opinions, using a specific hashtag for the event.
In Facebook there is Book Club, where users can create or join groups dedicated to reading, discuss the books they are reading or would like to read. These groups can be public or private and can be organized by specific categories, such as books in a specific genre or by an author. Here too the numbers are not exactly high (the original group has less than a thousand members), but spontaneous groups are multiplying, just like a kind of club.
In Instagram there are the "bookstagrammers", real influencers who use their profile to share reviews, advice and photos of the books they read. Some partner with publishers to promote books and earn commissions on purchases made through their profiles.
After all, books brought to social media can be a respectable business. This is demonstrated by the history of the only social network completely dedicated to the subject, Goodreads.
More than a social network, in reality, it is a portal, in which enthusiasts can however communicate, discuss, discuss, even on the latest news through the appropriate "Discover" section.
The fact is that, created in 2007 in Silicon Valley, it immediately received funding of two million dollars from a fund.
In 2012, it reached 10 million users: a success that just a year later led it to be purchased by Amazon for the beauty of 150 million.
Today the Italian section has 20,000 members.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/cari-boomer-avete-scocciato-i-ragazzi-leggono-ancora-fatevi-un-giro-sui-social/ on Wed, 08 Feb 2023 08:15:31 +0000.