So, you love books, and you're looking to find a community of fellow booklovers, but you don't know which bookish social media platform you should choose? Should you choose one? two? all of them?
Up until around 3 years ago, I was totally oblivious of the online book community. I used to follow a couple of accounts on my personal Instagram account for recommendations for a few years, but I never realised just how huge the book community truly was. My circle of friends and family aren't readers, so I somewhat felt alone with my love to read; I never had anyone to talk to about the worlds I was immersed in and the new characters I met. I honestly thought reading was dying out. Boy, was I wrong.
Finding your new book community online is the easy part, deciding on your preferred social media style takes a bit more. Let's look at some of the differences between some of my key bookish social media platforms:
Bookstagram
Bookstagram was my first introduction into the bookish community. Originally a photo platform, now migrating to more video focused, bookstagram is great if you love to dabble in photography. Instagram has more of a focus on aesthetics compared to other apps which can feel like a lot of work at times. It has a great messaging set up for private and group messages, so as you build your space there, you can talk directly with your friends one on one, and create group chats to have group discussions on your favourite books. You'll also find a lot of bookish businesses there such as apparel (like us!), candles, subscription boxes. You can post once a day, or even just 3-4 reels (short form videos) per week to find your community grow. Seach #bookstagram to find some accounts in community.
Follow us on IG: Caffeine and Curses
BookTok
BookTok is one of the newer social media platforms on the scene, and fast becoming one of my favourites. In m opinion, BookTok is more authentic thanks to less editing, more personality, and hilarious skits. BookTok loves getting together to discuss our bookworm problems: author plot twists, dog earring books, neverending TBR's. The other incredible thing with BookTok is the sheer support and boost the community provides for indie authors. One slight downside is in order to direct message on TikTok, both you and the fellow booktoker must follow each other. Also, the recommendations for posting is 3-7 times per day, which is a lot if you don not have a lot of spare time to create content. Search #booktok in the app to find your new community.
Follow us on TikTok: @caffeineandcurses
BookTube
BookTube has been around for many years, and is perfect if you love to do longer form videos for book reviews, book hauls, and monthly wrap ups. My favourite thing about BookTube, much like the rest of the platform, is that it is full of helpful content. If I want to understand more about a book, or a comparison of subscription boxes - I would go to YouTube. The other great thing about BookTube is the frequency of posting can be a lot less. Once a week is plenty, and keep in mind that if you're new to editing videos, once a week still may take a bit of time to get prepared.
Follow us on YouTube (we're new there too!): Caffeine and Curses
Blog
The last in our list are bookish blogs (like this post). One of the original bookish commmunities, if you love to write, this may be a great option. Blogs give you the creative freedom to design and manage it as you see fit. Viewers are looking for how you can help them. One of my personal favourite blog types are the bloggers that have lists of upcoming releases for me to plan around. My longest following blog that has saved me year after year is books Birds. Fit for thorough book reviews, discussing topics such as book diversity, and book recommendatations blogs are a wonderful place to get your thoughts out to the world once a week.
Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Blog: Which one to choose?
There are are so many options, and deciding on which bookish social media platform to choose really is personal preference. My recommendation is to choose based on the style that suits you most, and also take into consideration how much time you have to put into the platform(s). Dabble in each of them and see which you gravitate to more. There is no right or wrong answer as they all have a wonderful community ready and waiting to welcome you!
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What other tips have you got based on your experience in any of these book communities? Drop your links/handles below!
Tracy x