Social Reading and #BookTok: Exploring Emotion, Community, and Book Promotion on TikTok

This study examines how BookTok, a subcommunity centered on reading, functions as a social and emotional domain that shapes contemporary reading culture. Discourse analysis of the most popular videos within the BookTok subspace revealed commonalities in how creators expressed their emotions through text, language, and audio. Patterns of emotional devastation were also present in the discourse, pointing to affective-discursive practices circulating the community. Moreover, a content analysis of the books being promoted across highly engaged BookTok videos uncovered significant themes of romance and an appreciation for modern fiction novels. Findings suggest that reading functions as a social experience that is shared by community members. Given this analysis, I argue that traditional markers of cultural capital are being reconfigured through emotional engagement on BookTok. Furthermore, digital platforms shape how books, not only reading engagement, are consumed and valued.