Why is booktok discourse so shallow?

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YouTube has been taken over by "booktok bad" videos and after watching an inordinate amount of them, I got a sneaky feeling that although they are very good at explaining what Booktok is bad at, these videos might not be that "good" themselves.
Does Booktok have an overconsumption problem? Yes. Are reading aesthetics a bit cringe? Also yes.
And yes, the "spicy" book community can be a weird place at times. Certainly, one that comedian YouTubers can easily poke fun at.
But is that enough to throw around the "booktok is ruining literature" claim journalists and commentators love to clickbait with so much?

timestamps:

00:00 - I try to convince you I'm not a booktok apologist
01:19 - everyone's favourite scapegoat: the spicy book ladies
2:30 - "the problem with booktok is that it's performative"
5:21 - romance readers and being an intellectual online
9:12 - booktok is not just romance and spicy books FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
10:11 - the "tropeification" of literature
11:42 - the death of negative reviews
13:13 - caveat: some of the spicy book people are just unhinged
13:54 - the romance/ spicy book moral panic
19:45 - romance and erotica books have always been bestsellers
21:00 - critical thinking ≠ being a hater
23:30 - criticizing booktok gets views


the sources on this were all included on screen, sorry if I miss some of the links

videos mentioned:
Cyber Noop:    • Everything Wrong With BOOKTOK  
Aydin Atush:    • The Terrible, Terrible World of BookT...  
RayLikeSunshine:    • Booktok Is A Fever Dream  
Chad Chad:    • BookTok is Getting WORSE  
Alisha not Alihsha:    • booktok, brainrot, and why it’s okay ...  
   • booktok: an addendum, and book talk!  
Princess Weekes:    • Media Literacy, Spice, and A Failure ...  
Jack Edwards:    • how tiktok ruined reading + the "book...  
Alice Cappelle:    • Capitalism and Ego formation.  
my previous video about romance books being "bad for women":    • BookTok romance books are bad for wom...  

the substack essay:
https://madisonhuizinga.substack.com/...

NYT article about Penguin Random House CEO:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/bo...

#booktok