Thanks to TikTok, Aussies’ love of reading isn’t slowing down any time soon.
- by
Olga Scorer
2022 has been the year of reading! While booklovers can attest to its immense enjoyability, thanks to our good old friend, TikTok, the book community is now bigger than ever.
With a collective 95.3 billion views on the hashtag BookTok alone, it’s clear that ‘BookTube’ and ‘Bookstagram’ are notions of the past- TikTok has taken their place as one of the largest digital book clubs in the world.
Thanks to the social platform’s viral nature and broad reach, the book community has shifted from niche to international. Bookishly inclined people now unite on the platform to share their candid opinions while authors indie and large have grown devoted readerships via their short-form video creations.
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Australian author, Sally Thorne, is just one of the breakout names on the platform. The Canberrian, who has yet to create a TikTok herself, grew an organic following through an influx of reader reviews- which saw her 2016 debut novel, The Hating Game, reach sell-out success in 2020. It was adapted into a movie, starring Pretty Little Liar’s Lucy Hale, just a year later.
And now, as 2022 comes to a close, we have the stats to prove that it truly has been the year of reading.
The Hating Game reached TikTok success.
Hachette
The 2022 Rakuten Kobo Book Report revealed Aussie readers alone amassed a collective 661,619,318.88 minutes (1,311.46 years!) of reading. And to solidify the game-changer that is TikTok, interest in social sensation, Colleen Hoover, grew by a whopping 325%. In a semi-partnership of sorts, the breakout book-to-film adaptations (powered through TikTok), Where the Crawdads Sing and Heartstopper, also grew in readership.
The e-reading platform, Kobo, have credited TikTok in their 2022 wrap-up.
Kobo
A film adaptation of the TikTok famous, It Ends with Us, is also in the works- where readers have already begun ‘fan-casting’. Abigail Cowen, we hope your schedule’s clear.
WATCH: It Ends with Us fan casting. Article continues after video.
Bibliotherapist and Kobo Ambassador, Lucy Pearson, commented on the immense influence TikTok has over the book industry.
"It's no surprise to see authors such as Colleen Hoover and titles such as Where the Crawdads Sing among the most popular on the 2022 Kobo Book Report, and it’s fair to assume that Hoover’s popularity can be attributed to the rise of influence BookTok has on readers around the world,” she said.
WATCH: Popular BookToker @aymansbooks. Article continues after video.
Kobo’s Top 10 Most Read Books in Australia is as follows:
Olga ScorerOlga is a digital writer for New Idea. With a focus on lifestyle content, she enjoys talking about all things beauty, fashion, and wellbeing .