With 26bn views – and the ability to influence global sales – the
Social Media app’s reading corner #BookTok is not as niche as it seems
Fifteen seconds is all you need. Point your phone camera to a shelf and hold up your favourite book, or three. Add a trending soundtrack, a caption, a couple of hashtags – #BookTok #FYP. Throw a pandemic into the mix and you have the formula: you can make a book review go viral.
Stuck inside during Sydney’s Covid lockdown, I fell down the endless TikTok abyss, where I found BookTok: the app’s reading corner that has amassed more than 26bn views.