In response to the changing attitudes of Booktube

Booktube is my favourite little corner of the internet. Let that be known. I’ve been making videos as part of this community for two years now. I was nowhere near one of the first to do this and there have been hundreds more since me. Booktube is an ever growing, ever evolving beast. I, personally, have no idea where it will end up. The main, most populated fragment of booktube is taken up by creators, readers and followers of Young Adult fiction. 

This is not where I fit in. 

I read and then subsequently make my videos about Adult fiction, whether it be classics, genre or literary varieties. I also read a healthy slice of Children’s (or middle grade) fiction as well as some non-fiction. These are the kind of books I wish to fill my life with. I am not the only booktuber who dedicates the majority of their time to Adult Fiction. There are many of us and our numbers grow all the time. I get so excited every time I find a new booktuber who reads predominantly Adult Fiction. It’s only natural that I would want to watch people discuss books who have somewhat similar tastes to my own. 

At the moment, Booktube is a relatively safe creative space. The majority of our community (both the content creators and the viewers) are sweet, friendly, intelligent people who have the good sense to only give constructive criticism where criticism is needed. Very rarely are people out right cruel or insensitive. Mostly if someone doesn’t like something, the worst they’ll do is give a video a thumbs down and not continue to watch, which is obviously a perfectly valid and measured response. 

Other communities on Youtube are not as lucky. I often see cruel, hateful and ignorant comments running rampant on both Beauty and Vlog channels. People saying the kind of things that shock and sadden me. I’m often surprised someone could feel so viciously about someone they know very little about in the first place, let alone feel the need to maliciously voice those opinions to the virtual equivalent of that person’s face. 

As the numbers of the Booktube community grow, so do our chances of attracting the cruel and ignorant into our ranks. This can’t be helped but as long as the majority of us continue to be supportive, positive, kind people we will continue to thrive as we share our love of books and reading with each other and the internet as a whole. Don’t get discouraged, Booktube. We’re only young yet, but we are strong. Be kind to each other.

- Lesley. x