What is up with the youth of today? Don’t they understand that reading is something you have to do – a daily chore – not something you choose to do because it is pleasurable?
Monitoring the international publishing scene can be depressing at times. A lot of times.
Because even in the 2020s a common theme being touted by events organisers, culture ministers, publishing execs and other authoritative figures that really should know better is that young people are not reading because they are too busy with their mobile phones, wasting time on social media when they could be reading a dry, dull-as-possible, micro-font text book written for a 1950s audience.
What is up with the youth of today? Don’t they understand that reading is something you have to do – a daily chore – not something you choose to do because it is pleasurable?
It’s no coincidence that this nonsense is being perpetuated in the least dynamic book markets, while conversely the dynamic book markets openly embrace social media, digital reading and the accessibility of mobile devices to expand reading.
This past week a useful survey from the UK Publishers Association (it happens!) took in the opinions of over 2,000 16-25 year olds (the so-called Generation Z) and confirmed what most of us in the western book markets are already acutely aware of – that social media drives reading and drives book sales.
The focus here was on the social media platform BookTok. Here’s what the PA survey concluded:
- 59% of 16-25 year olds say that BookTok or book influencers have helped them discover a passion for reading.
- 55% turn to BookTok for recommendations
- 66% say that BookTok has inspired them to read a book that they would have never considered otherwise.
And bricks & mortar booksellers need not worry this is only drving digital book sales. From the press release:
The good news is that Booktok can also have a positive impact on physical bookshops, with nearly half (49%) of respondents visiting a physical bookshop to buy a book they have seen on BookTok. As a result, many bookshops are responding quickly to the growing trend. Book Bar, an independent bookshop and wine bar in London, aims to bring this community to life and has felt the impact of BookTok first-hand. Due to trends driven by BookTok, the shop now stocks more contemporary books which cater to a broader demographic.
Read the full UK Publishers Association press release here.
And do check out this archived post from TNPS from one year ago:
