BookTok accomplished the impossible. It reeled a large portion of Gen Z into reading again. However, this same algorithm that has hooked this generation on books may be wielding too much power and narrowing down what they read.
One study conducted by Alysia De Melo at the University of Toronto found that 78% of BookTok users frequently encounter repetitive tropes through their algorithms, such as “Enemies to Lovers” and “Fake Dating”.
Approximately 66% of the study’s participants said that these patterns influenced their reading choices, and thus locked them into specific popularized subgenres. The study also found that more than 70% of viral BookTok recommendations promote mass-market romance novels, predominantly from just a handful of bestselling authors.
All the while, books containing experimental narratives or written by underrepresented authors are marginalized.
Additional studies found the same pattern. The algorithm behind BookTok promotes a narrow scope of less diverse recommendations. Most of which are written by white women and represent less diverse narratives and subgenres.
Here is why variety matters.
Social Psychologist Emanuele Castano discovered a significant difference between literary fiction and genre fiction readers. Participants of his study who read literary fiction showed improved ability to understand other people’s thoughts and emotions, while genre fiction readers showed no significant improvement.
His findings suggest that adhering to only one genre may have cognitive and social impacts.
Other readers and writers believe that healthy doses of a variety of genres offer distinct cognitive benefits. The Reader’s Closet blog suggests that fantasy can induce feelings of acceptance and belonging. True crime raises complex moral questions. Poetry for insights into contemporary social issues. Global literature provides cultural perspectives beyond one’s own.
This analysis, that one’s literary diet influences their thoughts and perspectives on reality, coincides with the research found through Castano’s study.
So while BookTok roped Gen Z into reading, it is up to this generation to push past the algorithm’s influence.
Where should one search outside of the algorithm?
For you, my dear Nicholls student, Ellender Memorial Library’s librarians can help you select personalized recommendations, perhaps many of which you would not have found through BookTok.
Professors are also an often overlooked resource for diversifying your reading recommendations. Especially the English, history or humanities faculty.
Let’s burrow deeper, fellow bookworms. Not as passive scrollers, but as individuals who seek out the hidden, great literature that awaits us just below the surface.
