TikTok, a video-sharing social media app, is popular among teens and young adults. (Maddie Knight/Emerald)

Recent TikTok ban threats have left many sub communities formed on the app waiting in an anxious limbo to see the cultural impact a ban could have. BookTok is one of those communities.

BookTok rose in popularity in 2020 when the pandemic hit, and by 2021 it had turned into a cultural force. Publishers reached out to creators to help with book promotions, dialogue increased between authors and readers and users shared book recommendations with one another.

With the rise of BookTok came the resurgence of reading as a hobby, and over the years, the reading community has flourished. The app has created a space for people who love to read, regardless of if they’re accomplished authors or simply people who like to talk about the books they love. This quality has been beneficial for users, creators and authors alike.

“It’s something about TikTok, and the algorithm that helps me connect with people that are interested in my little cozy fantasy niche,” Erin Ritch, an indie author and creator, said. “It’s not lost on me that the two books of mine that I talk about on TikTok are my most successful by far, and I don’t pay a dime.”

Where traditional marketing avenues made it difficult for self-published authors to break into the mainstream, BookTok often favored indie authors.

“It’s exciting to talk to people that are excited about your work,” Ritch said. “I would share updates when I was working on my last book, and people were like, ‘Please hurry, we want to read, we’re so excited,’ and that was really encouraging.”

TikTok also allows users to follow indie publishers and new authors, in a way that wasn’t possible before the app. Kaytlin Smith, a BookTok content creator based in Eugene, like many others, used to pick her books by going to bookstores and seeing what looked interesting. TikTok opened a completely new world for readers.

“Just by scrolling, I can come across somebody who’s writing something completely up my alley, and then I can follow them to see where their journey goes,” Smith said. “That kind of accessibility is not something I ever imagined being possible.”

Authors, in turn, can follow the journey their books take.

“When they were having the really bad hurricanes in Texas earlier in 2024, one of my readers tagged me in a post,” Ritch said. “She had downloaded my book ‘Pippi’s Inn For Wandering Spirits’ on her Kindle before they went a week without power. She said that my book got her through that week, and that gave me chills.”

Interactions like this are common, as TikTok helps connect authors to their readers and share their stories.

A ban of the app would severely threaten this connection, and small presses and indie authors would feel the brunt of the ban. TikTok allows authors and publishers to promote their books for free and build supporters in a way that has yet to be replicated on any other app.

Many BookTok creators and authors have been able to monetize their content and make money off of TikTok shop, to the point where they are able to make a living off of TikTok. A ban would jeopardize the livelihood of many BookTok creators.

There are also concerns among the BookTok community that a ban could have major impacts with regards to censorship.

“The topic of censorship is such a slippery slope that it turns from, you know, we’re just banning this book because of appropriateness for children, and it slides into, we’re banning this app where people are sharing ideas and learning about these kinds of books that are deemed controversial. That scares me,” Smith said.

TikTok has made a world of difference in the literary community. From making reading popular to encouraging discourse to having tangible economic effects, the impact of TikTok cannot be overstated.

As the debate over TikTok’s future continues and the possibility of a ban is still unknown, the BookTok community reflects on the good the app has brought as well as fears of censorship and financial loss. The effect a TikTok ban will have will be felt outside the digital world in ways we have yet to fully grasp.