> My problem with "Booktok"

Okay I'll admit. I don't have tiktok, haven't had it for multiple years, and I do not want it in my life in any capacity. My interactions with any [__]tok are rare and forced upon me. So why would I ever have authority to talk about booktok???

I don't, really, but the conversation surrounding it is what I do have an opinion on.

In general I've observed two groups in this conversation:

1. Booktok is annoying and smut addicted, can't read, is commodifying the hobby, and turning it into another just another consumption.

2. God forbid a woman enjoy anything.

Can you guess which side is valid?

DING DING DING!! Correct! both are valid.

Yes, the internet community known as 'booktok' clearly has a problem with over consumption. Nobody ever needs 3 copies of a book because of how the cover looks. Nobody needs fancy highlighters or pens or bookmarks to annotate. Nobody needs anything but the text itself to read.

Yes, emphasizing and begging for "spice" in every book does make it far more difficult to find books without explicit content because it's become a trend. Porn addiction is still an addiction, and a lot of these booktok books really are glorified smut. The increasingly sanitized and YA looking cover art can be deceptive and expose minors to explicit content. That's Not Good!!!

And YES. The heavy criticism on booktok, a very woman-dominated (/????) community, absolutely reflects the misogynistic pattern of criticizing and ridiculing fems for having hobbies. You're allowed to enjoy smut! You're allowed to enjoy silly and fun plots without fancy and hyper-intellectual writing! Art is subjective!

So what's my problem with booktok?? Capitalism.

In fact, that's my problem with every tiktok-housed-and-fostered community, because the algorithm-- which is already optimized to generate as much money as possible by keeping you on the app for as long as possible-- speeds up the hobby → trend process by like a bajillion percent. I know everyone can feel it, the initial frenzy, the ickiness, then the boredom, and finally the endless repeat. Of course an app based on trends is going to make a trends out of thing. Of course cover artists, publishers, and writers are gonna write more smut if that's what is currently selling, THEY NEED MONEY! They PROFIT from YOUR addiction! And YOUR addiction exists because society is so exhausting that you need some kind of outlet to escape instead of blowing your brains out. It's never been the consumer(booktokers)'s fault that the book industry is turning out this way, its the system that operates through exploitation. And its always okay to be upset by this outcome! You SHOULD be upset that authors are "selling out" or being insincere. You SHOULD be upset that children are being exposed to explicit material. You SHOULD be upset that "I love reading books" can be turned into "I have 3 gigantic bookshelves full of books that I have no motivation to read but I bought anyway cause right now the easiest way for me to cope with living in this capitalistic hell-scape is by buying things". You should be upset that every comes back to money!!!! You have to pay to live. This should upset you.

So don't become an elitist, become a radical! Get Off Tiktok! Touch Some Grass!!!!!!! Talk to people! Help people! Learn more! Create more! Think more about your feelings and where they come from! Ask questions about why things are the way they are! Instead of spending money on books that you can pirate or borrow from a library, donate :)

Idk who I'm yelling at, I just feel so insane. I loathe watching us fight each other instead of solving the problem. I needed to get this out somehow. we are SO sad. like as a species. embarrassing

Anyway. Here are some links to donate to if you can, I highly suggest you do. If anyone has any fundraisers or gofundmes that they want to promote, you are highly encouraged to promote them in the comments of all of my blogs, no matter the subject of the blog; I would love to donate if I can.

And here are some ideas of physical free things you can do today or make plans to do this week and what you need to do them: (cuz I get bored as hell and forget that there's other things to do than watch youtube)

Draw or write; pencil/crayon/colored pencil/marker/pen + paper/paper bag/sticky note/old notes or book/old book/cardboard/ascribable trash
Listen to music and dance; music player or music file & file player; speaker (optional), headphones (optional), playlist (optional), fun lights (optional)
Read a book or magazine; device that can access the internet & https://z-lib.id/ or go to your local library
Purge your wardrobe and donate it; bags or boxes & transportation
Go bug hunting!; jar/container with air holes

3 Kudos

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