How Will a U.S. TikTok Ban Change the Book Community?

Hi friends! Welcome back to the Loose Leaf List. We’re entering a brand new year, and recent developments suggest the online book community will look very different in 2025.

I refer, of course, to the TikTok ban that is scheduled to go into effect on January 19th. This ban would remove the app from all U.S. app stores, quickly rendering it unusable by U.S. users. TikTok is currently challenging the law, with the U.S. Supreme Court due to hear oral arguments on January 10th. (See here for some up-to-date commentary about the ban.)

While nothing is certain, I’m personally assuming that TikTok will become unavailable in the U.S. this January, at least for a time. Communities like BookTok, which saw an explosion of growth during the pandemic and sent waves throughout the book industry, are about to lose a chunk of their active membership.

Much has been written about how a TikTok ban will impact authors and publishers — after all, BookTok has been credited with propelling many books to bestseller lists. But today I want to talk about the impact for the social side of the book community. That is: How will our methods of chatting about books on the internet change if one of the biggest platforms for book discussions goes away?

Will a TikTok Ban Kill the Online Book Community?

First off, the bookish internet has been around for as long as the internet itself. A TikTok ban wouldn’t change that.

There’s a bookish side of pretty much every social media platform you can imagine — the long-standing BookTube community on YouTube, the more recent but well-established Bookstagram community on Instagram, the fledgling BookSky community on Bluesky, etc.

Many popular BookTok creators have been posting on multiple platforms for years. For my part, even though I have the most followers on TikTok, I’ve been on Instagram for far longer and cultivated most of my online friendships there. I look forward to many more years of connecting with bookish friends through the internet, no matter what happens with TikTok.

However, while it is not accurate to say the book community will be dead without TikTok, it is also not accurate to say that nothing will change.

How Will the Book Community Change Without TikTok?

TikTok fosters specific styles of content that you can’t get on any other major platform. Most of the BookTok content that comes across my feed is 3-7 minute long videos of someone casually talking into their phone camera. This might be a list of the books they read this month, an in-depth book review, or a discussion of something book-related.

The main alternatives to TikTok — Instagram and YouTube — don’t currently allow this type of content to thrive.

Viewers of long-form YouTube videos expect much higher production quality than a TikTok, and YouTube Shorts only go up to three minutes. Instagram Reels can technically support up to 10-minute videos, but the algorithm prefers videos under 90 seconds. Instagram also tends to prize aesthetics and infographics over in-depth chatting videos.

As I mentioned before, many popular BookTokers have already been posting to other platforms for years. But there are many others who only use BookTok. If those people migrate to Instagram and YouTube, they may need to adapt to other content styles they aren’t used to.

It’s possible BookTokers will make the switch just fine, or they might give up on bookish social media altogether. It would be a real shame to lose some of the creative, interesting voices that made BookTok so great.

Can Instagram and Youtube Replace BookTok?

The disappearance of BookTok is not happening in a vacuum. Instagram and YouTube know they’re probably about to gain an influx of users who are used to TikTok-style content.

Because of this, I wouldn’t be surprised if Instagram and YouTube adjusted their features and algorithms to help people create and discover the types of videos that thrived on TikTok. Maybe the Reels algorithm will start prioritizing longer videos and add a feature to watch Reels on a faster speed. Maybe YouTube will allow users to upload Shorts up to ten minutes long.

The switch still won’t be easy. No matter what changes they make, Instagram and YouTube don’t have access to TikTok’s prized algorithm, which means discoverability on the rest of the bookish internet won’t have the same opportunity that TikTok offered.

One thing I am certain of is that the book community will continue to exist, and continue to thrive. It might just look a bit different than before.

Which platforms do you go to for bookish content? How do you think the possible U.S. TikTok ban will change the book community? Share in the comments!

Watch It Early!

My latest YouTube video will be up in three days’ time, but you get to see it before anyone else!

This month, I’m diving into one of the most iconic romances in Doctor Who — the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler — to uncover why people love them so much, and why their relationship is more complicated than it seems.

What I Read This Month

I wrapped up my 2024 reading year with some super intriguing reads. In the case of the first one, I even got to meet the author at a book signing this month! (She was super lovely.)

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

The Hurricane Wars is a romantic fantasy book that began as Reylo fanfic (Rey and Kylo Ren from Star Wars), but the world in the published book is nothing like Star Wars. The Southeast Asia-inspired fantasy world drew me in, and the political machinations kept me dying to discover what happens next!

For my full thoughts, read my full review of The Hurricane Wars on Storygraph.

Palestine +100, edited by Basma Ghalayini

I love science fiction for its potential to explore society, politics, and philosophy through an unfamiliar lens. Palestine +100, a sci-fi short story anthology that asks twelve Palestinian writers to imagine what Palestine will be like in the year 2048, exemplifies this strength of the genre. Each of these stories captivated my interest in unique ways, and I’m excited to check out other installments in the publisher’s sci-fi anthology series too!

For more thoughts, read my full review of Palestine +100 on Storygraph.

In Case You Missed It …

In which I round up my other favorite fun posts that I made this past month!

On Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, I shared four books I read in 2024 that changed my brain chemistry:

On Instagram, my longtime booksta buddy @BookishBasma and I did a cozy winter bookish live stream where we chatted about our current reads, our anticipated reads of 2025, the future of special book editions, and — of course — the TikTok ban and the future of Instagram!

On Instagram and TikTok, I posted my review of the latest Doctor Who Christmas special (spoiler alert, I had some gripes):

On TikTok, as a precursor to this month’s YouTube video, I ranked every Doctor-companion romance in Doctor Who (and explained why the Tenth Doctor and Rose landed at the top):

@looseleafellie

When I say a Doctor Who romance is good, I don’t mean that I think they make a healthy couple — I mean it’s MESSY. #Whovian #TenRose #Tent... See more

On TikTok, I chatted about Doctor Who cancellation rumors, and what I think the show’s chances are going forward (TL;DW: I think it will be fine, it might just look different):

@looseleafellie

If there’s one thing that makes me feel secure about Doctor Who’s future, it’s that history has shown it to be the cockroach of TV shows. ... See more

Inspired by some of the discussion on that video, I also posted a video on TikTok and YouTube Shorts about whether Doctor Who used to be better in the past:

Typically, TikTok has been the home of most of my mid-length Doctor Who content. However, given the TikTok ban, I’ve started posting some of my Doctor Who videos on Instagram, so Instagram peeps can now watch my rant about crappy streaming service subtitles and how they ruin Doctor Who:

And, because I still stand by it two years after I posted it on TikTok, my rant about why I hate the Maze Runner series is also now on Instagram:

Thank you so much for reading! Until next time, bookish friends.

Love,

Ellie