High versus Low Culture on BookTube

High versus Low Culture on BookTube

Dr. Stein shared a quote from Deanna Sellnow, who explained pop culture is “comprised of the everyday objects, actions, and events that influence people to believe and behave in certain ways.”

Many began reading again during the pandemic. TikTok, a social media application that focuses on short video content, also became extremely popular during the pandemic. Together, BookTok, a subgenre combining the hobby of reading into video content on TikTok has emerged. 

https://lithub.com/35-of-the-world-is-reading-more-during-the-pandemic-thanks-pandemic/

YouTube and TikTok are being used to advertise books, and a new sub genre within these platforms have emerged, called BookTube and BookTok. Publishing industries now partner with social media influencers to market their books, as the social media apps have increased book sales and the popularity of backlist titles, while also creating a space for literary discord. The channel being utilized for these messages impact both the communicators and the receivers. The communicators (social media influencers) are able to base entire careers and livelihoods in the social media book community while the receivers are being influenced by what books to consume. Because it has become such a large platform and because it “influences people to behave in certain ways” (purchasing and reading books in this case) this is becoming a major part of pop culture. 

What I have found to be frustrating though, is the attention and popularity “low culture” books are receiving. After discussing high culture versus low culture in our class this week, I have realized that this fits my frustration in BookTube. A lot of these influencers seem to be using the platform to maintain their social image, reading and promoting books because this is the “aesthetic” and popular thing to do. In turn, they are recommending the same books over and over again – usually easily digestible romance books.

Although I do enjoy these books, I consider these books (such as Colleen Hoover) to be low culture, especially in comparison to the reading I did for my undergraduate degree in English. Recently, I have discovered a graduate student named Noelle Gallagher who made a video promoting these “high culture” books that I have been dying to see on BookTube, sharing her experiences reading classics throughout her undergraduate English degree. 

Although I do wish more attention was given to classic literature and the genre of nonfiction and literary fiction, I am ecstatic that more people have delved into the world of reading (or rekindled their love for it) and think that any kind of reading (in quality or quantity) is commendable.