Scrolling Toward Literacy: The Unexpected Role of Social Media in Reading Engagement
- TFT Post
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
In the era of doom-scrolling, where attention spans are said to be shrinking to mere seconds, social media is often framed as the villain. Ironically, the same platforms blamed for digital distraction have also become an unlikely catalyst for renewed reading habits. Online book communities, Bookstagram, BookTok, BookTwt, and others, have carved out a corner of the internet that has reignited interest in books, particularly among Millennials and Gen Z. The latter, a generation raised on screens, is now driving a resurgence in print publishing and brick-and-mortar bookstores.
These platforms function as cultural marketplaces for readers. Members of the book community exchange recommendations, reviews, and long-form discussions, all packaged in visually aesthetic formats, trending audio, memes, and hashtags that align seamlessly with platform algorithms. Reading, once perceived as solitary and slow, is reframed as social, aspirational, and participatory. For writers, this ecosystem offers something equally transformative: direct access to readers. Social media enables authors to build loyal communities, interact with their audience, and market their work without relying entirely on traditional publishing gatekeepers.
This shift has real economic consequences. Social media marketing has emerged as a cheaper, faster, and often more profitable pathway, especially when paired with self-publishing, for writers struggling to secure traditional book deals. In its most ideal form, this ecosystem allows writers to create the literature they care about and enables readers to discover it organically, without a publishing house deciding which stories are “marketable enough” to exist.
However, as with most algorithm-driven systems, the benefits come with structural trade-offs.
A writer’s aspiration is twofold: to create meaningful literature and to earn a living from it. The often-romanticised idea of “art for art’s sake” becomes difficult to sustain when visibility and income are governed by engagement metrics. As monetary incentives intensify, concerns about declining literary quality have grown, particularly in fiction and romance, the most popular genres within BookTok and Bookstagram communities.
To capture attention, many authors increasingly reduce complex narratives into easily digestible tropes and viral moments designed to satisfy escapist desires. Marketing strategies emphasise aesthetic appeal and emotional hooks over thematic depth, inadvertently devaluing the genre itself. Algorithms reinforce this pattern, creating echo chambers that repeatedly push similar plots, character archetypes, and narrative formulas, because they are proven to sell.
The result is a market flooded with near-identical books, often produced at high speed. In the age of AI tools, allegations of low-effort, mass-generated content and unauthorised use of copyrighted works to train AI models have become increasingly common. This not only undermines literary integrity but risks burying genuine, thoughtfully crafted stories, particularly those from emerging or marginalised voices.
Responsibility for this erosion does not lie solely with authors. Readers, as consumers and participants, shape the ecosystem just as strongly.
Online book communities mirror broader social media dynamics, including the construction of curated identities. Within these spaces, performative reading, where individuals prioritise appearing well-read over engaging deeply with literature, has become a recognised phenomenon. Some book influencers, incentivised by follower counts and sponsorships, promote books they may not have read, blurring ethical lines and misleading audiences.
Additionally, toxicity within these communities further complicates their promise. Judgment of reading preferences, harassment of authors over delayed releases or creative choices, and hostile discourse can make these spaces unwelcoming. Such behaviour discourages new readers and creates an unsafe environment for writers, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds.
Framed differently, the issue is not social media itself, but how value is assigned within these ecosystems.
At their best, online book communities democratise literature. They surface voices historically excluded from mainstream publishing and foster genuine enthusiasm for reading. At their worst, they replicate the same market pressures and hierarchies they once sought to dismantle,only faster and louder.
With global literacy rates stagnating or declining, the stakes are higher than aesthetics or algorithms. If these platforms are to remain forces for good, engagement must be rooted in curiosity, care, and respect for the craft. Reading need not be performative to be powerful.
As someone embedded within this digital literary space, I have witnessed stories from underprivileged and oppressed voices gain visibility for the first time. Allowing such narratives to be overshadowed by unethical practices, whether by authors, influencers, or platforms, is not merely unfortunate; it is a systemic failure.
The question, then, is not whether social media belongs in the future of reading, but how intentionally we choose to shape its role.
-Ojaswini.
References
5. A. Shukla, Former Head and S. Pandey, “From Margin to Hashtags: A Study of Forgotten Indian Literary Voices through Bookstagram and BookTube,” International Journal of Humanities Social Science and Management (IJHSSM), vol. 5, pp. 800–806, [Online]. Available: www.ijhssm.org
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