Project Director

Kimbro, Devori

Department Examiner

Baker, Sybil

Department

Dept. of Political Science, Public Administration and Nonprofit Management

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

BookTok, a creator-driven subset of TikTok that promotes and discusses books, gained popularity in 2020. Its emergence has significantly altered the book industry, allowing once-unknown authors to transform into bestselling novelists with the click of a button. Modern romance, fantasy, and young adult novels are typically favored on BookTok. These novels are vastly different from the books in the traditional literary canon, challenging conventional ideals regarding what types of literature could be considered canonical. Additionally, BookTok is primarily driven by younger users, allowing many teenagers and young adults to rediscover the joy found through reading and writing. This research project focuses on a question regarding BookTok’s relationship to traditional literature: “BookTok: Is the social media phenomenon opening the notably gatekept literary canon to a new generation of authors and connoisseurs, or is it creating a new canon entirely?” Through examining evidence from an IRB-approved study distributed to more than 300 avid readers, perusing scholarly research, and conducting an in-depth literature examination of canonical and modern-day novels, we determined the extent to which BookTok has changed the literary industry. This project discovered that (1) reading habits are shifting among teenagers and young adults, (2) BookTok is offering new book marketing tactics, (3) canonical novels are different from the novels popular on BookTok, and (4) BookTok is a viable (but unpredictable) marketing method.

Acknowledgments

Dr. Kimbro, I cannot thank you enough for serving as my thesis director. This project would not have been possible without your invaluable guidance, and I am ever so grateful that I had the privilege of working with you. You have made an immense impact on my life. Professor Baker, I sincerely thank you for serving on my thesis committee. Through your encouragement and support, I have become a better writer and researcher. I am so appreciative of the time you spent helping me. Finally, I want to thank my mother, who offered me moral support and advice while I was writing this. You were my first writing teacher, and I would not have accomplished any of this without your teachings.

IRB Number

23-106

Degree

B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Date

5-2024

Subject

Advertising--Books; Best sellers; College students--Books and reading--United States; Popular literature--Internet marketing; Readership surveys; Reading promotion; Viral marketing

Name

TikTok (Firm)

Keyword

TikTok; BookTok; literature; literary canon; social media; reading habits

Discipline

Modern Literature

Document Type

Theses

Extent

ii, 43 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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