TIKTOK EFFECT

By srijani( psychology, second year)

Designed and edited by Mehak koundal(b.com program,first year)

Being in a society where people are very much influenced by social media trends like reels, you all must know what booktok is, right? It's where most people give book

reviews and recommendations. Well, it has now become more than just a platform

for recommendations. It has become a trend. Now, my dear dark romance readers, you must remember the hype for Haunting Adeline ? It rose to fame last year approximately and each and every person was either reading it or wanted to read it. But, don't be surprised when I tell you that I read this same book when I was in 9th standard! Yes, you read that right. H.D Carlton was already a lot famous even before booktok and is a well established author. I've read his works before and they are legit outstanding. Then we have our “favourite” Colleen Hoover. Even a few months ago, every person would have one of her books in between their fingers. At that time, all I knew was that she writes romance and since I'm not a romance girlie, I was not interested. But what fascinated me was how hyped it was. So I decided to read it. When I read her books I found that it is not a good book. And sure enough, we all realized that it suddenly got famous due to its aesthetics and of course social media loves aesthetics!

So the real question is: whether booktok is legit or is it just a trendsetter?

Sure there are some pros of booktok. The authors who were long forgotten, rise

again through social media. It also encourages a lot more people to read and

engage with books. But there are some cons as well. It sets sky-high expectations

which may not resonate with someone's taste or liking. Even though it promotes and revives forgotten books, it does not promote actual literature and only focuses on those with trendy aesthetics.

In the end, whether it is “legit” or simply a trendsetter depends on how we, as

readers, engage with it. Do we allow algorithms to dominate our tastes or do we use it as a gateway to discover more diverse, meaningful works beyond the hype? At last, booktok has power, but the duty to look past the trend and truly value literature lies within us