Students find a love for reading through Booktok

The Book side of Tiktok is encouraging more teens to read.

Emmaly Simmons, Writer|February 23, 2022

Alyssa Cortes

Recently the media center at WRHS has been in need of even more books, in order to give the students more of the books they love.

In the current climate, the social media app, TikTok, has become incredibly popular amongst most teenagers. Recently, the book side of TikTok, better known as “Booktok,” has rapidly become more and more popular.

Need a book recommendation? Head to Booktok. Want to watch videos regarding your favorite fandoms? Head to Booktok. Want to share your opinions about a book you’ve recently read? It’s all included on Booktok.

Emma-Sue Miller-Stewart, a junior at Wiregrass, and a frequent Booktok user, explained one of her favorite series she’s found through the subtopic.

“‘The Cruel Prince’- It’s amazing and I wholeheartedly want everyone to read it right now, its my third favorite series ever,” Miller-Stewart stated.

A lot of book and series’ have recently become popular, along with their fandoms, thanks to Booktok. (Alyssa Cortes)

As more and more students are shifting over to the book side of TikTok, a love of reading is slowly emerging. Many students venture to the media center to find books they discovered on TikTok.

Wiregrass RMA, or Resource Management Assistant, Tainex Martinez, has noticed a rise in the numbers of students checking out books lately.

“I think because of last week’s activity we had in the media it could have been because of that [Booktok],” Martinez stated.

Along with finding TikToks of certain book fandoms, students are also getting recommendations for books with small summaries in the videos. The main types of books that have become more popular recently are anime, suspense, young adult, and fantasy.

Wiregrass junior, Alyssa Cortes, describes some of her most recent favorite reads taken directly from Booktok.

“I’ve had book themed videos on my ‘for you’ page for a while, but late last year I started to actually read some of the popular recommended books,” Cortes explained. “Including ‘We Were Liars’, ‘The Song of Achilles’, ‘They Both Die at the End’, ‘Six of Crows’, and the whole ‘Grishaverse’.”

Although students are finding books through a social media app, it has caused them to visit their local bookstores and school libraries in order to find their next read. Booktok has led more and more students to discover a new passion for reading or re-ignite an old flame.