Bookstagram Made Me Do It

Every now and then, I stumble upon a review on Goodreads that blames social media content creator(s) for excessive book promotion and consequently ‘making’ someone read that book, and then they didn’t like it.

Funny enough, I still haven’t stumbled upon a review that mentions social media content creators recommending a book that they liked and showing appreciation. But maybe I haven’t dug deep enough.

Anyway, the truth is, most of us, in almost every aspect of our lives, get recommendations from social media. From interior design ideas, which TV shows to watch, which restaurants to visit, which pants are trendy, to which hair or ridiculous eyebrow style is now popular. We cannot run and hide from that input, and we probably won’t be able to in the near future—unless some dystopian scenarios finally come true.

I was never a big fan of social media. I always felt too exposed, everything was too loud, everyone was too happy, and I felt obligated to be a part of it without having any benefit from it. Until I found book recommendation posts - and in full transparency, I was very negative about it at first. 

Bookstagram, and of course BookTok and BookTube, despite my being a huge skeptic at first, showed me the fun side of social media where I can finally read and listen to the content that fits my interests. I can read or hear other people’s opinions and reviews on a book that I’ve read or plan to read and enrich my TBR or decide to reread a book if I missed something.

I was finally able to fill my feed with content that has always been my passion, hobby, another persona, and also find people with whom I can discuss book topics and exchange book impressions.

When I created this blog and consequently the Instagram account, I had no idea how much (darn) time is needed for such content creation. I started all of this for fun, for my mental health, and as an outlet, as my head was full of words and opinions. 

I assume many accounts that I follow started the same way, but they diligently share everything they feel like sharing, and if they are creative or interesting enough, they reach a great audience.

Regardless of the audience size, creating social media content is not an easy task. It takes time, dedication, creativity, bravery, determination, and knowledge about the books they are recommending.

So if you haven’t liked something that was recommended on social media, I am sorry that happened to you - but don’t trash talk, just move on. We are all entitled to have our own opinions about books, certain authors, tropes, and everything book-related, but we should at least be kind to each other as the book community is the most tame out there (ok, maybe less tame than the one that talks about puppies, but still).