Bookstagram-The Good and Bad

This is my fourth list in the #Project14lists, a blogging project initiated by the lovely Shealea. She is also hosting a giveaway. If you haven’t checked it out already, find the details here.

We all know that Bookstagram has taken the world by storm. No one can ignore the effect Bookstagram has had on reading. Today I will discuss the good and the bad effects of bookstagram.

P.S. These are my personal opinions, and I don’t mean to offend anyone.

Firstly, let’s talk about the positive consequences of Bookstagram.

The Good Effect:

1. Connecting Readers from All Over The World

Bookstagram has helped connect readers from different parts of the world. So your best friend doesn’t read books and you can’t talk about them with her? No problem! You have tons of other fellow readers on Instagram to gush about your favorite book.

2. Making Reading Cool

Reading is no longer viewed as uncool or something that is only done by a handful of people. Now you see plenty of people reading, especially on e-readers. And Bookstagram has contributed to that by glamorizing the act of reading.

3. Book Photography

Bookstagram has even helped readers with a passion for photography as well. Creative photographs of books, which would seem bizarre earlier, are a reason for the popularity of many bookstagram accounts.

4. Promoting Diverse Books

Bookstagram has not only helped people to read more but to read more diverse books too. The more people make bookstagram accounts, the more they become aware of the different types of books in the other parts of the world. This has led to more translation of regional books, which helps writers in developing countries as well.

The Bad Effect:

But every coin has two sides. In my opinion, the good outweighs the bad, but we can’t ignore the bad effects that bookstagram has had on the readers

1. Unhealthy Competition

Eventually, Bookstagram is a part of Instagram, so that doesn’t make it immune to the competition that exists among the users of Instagram for garnering follows. Excessive shout-outs, paid followers, buying more books than one can afford are just a few of the side-effects of being a part of this Instagram community.

2. Self-Criticism in Bookstagrammers

Not everyone can read 20 to 30 books in a month and not everyone’s feed is attractive Its not a fault to read plenty of books or have a beautiful feed, but these aren’t the object of bookstagram. The real objective of bookstagram is to promote the love of reading among the people of this community. Due to the unhealthy competition as stated in the above point, some bookstagrammers start feeling the pressure. I have been a victim of this too. Considering I am a slow reader and have a full-time job, I can’t read a lot of books in a short amount of time, and as a result, I can’t post photos of plenty of books on my Instagram feed. This can be seen as an excuse by some, and maybe it is, but it came to the point where I got anxious and upset at myself for having fewer photos to post. But then I asked myself, What is more important? Reading for personal growth, however slowly, or posting multiple photos of many books which I won’t be able to read in a go? This is more of a personal problem though, and bookstagram is not fully to blame for this.

3. Over-exposure of Collaborations with Brands

There are a lot of collaborations that plenty of brands do with bookstagrammers, and although there is nothing wrong with it, but sometimes it feels too much. There are particular brands who do so many collabs that now whenever I see any photo of a bookstagrammer with a product of that brand, I know that the caption will be about selling that product, and so I just scroll down to the next photo. (If you think this is a case of sour grapes, and I am plain jealous of those bookstagrammers who get the opportunity to do such collabs, you are right.) But jokes aside, the number of such collabs are so many, esp. during festive times, I just get bored of seeing them.

And that’s it. I don’t blame bookstagrammers for any of this. This is all just a consequence of being a user of Instagram.

Does any of this ring true for you? Or do you feel my views are incorrect? I would love to hear your thoughts below.