BookTok is all the rage, turning African literature upside down
For young people between the ages of 18 and 30, it is highly plausible that the books on their shelves have been influenced by BookTok. Once dismissed as a platform for trivial dance and music videos, TikTok has evolved into a powerful force in the social media landscape, joining the ranks of Meta's giants. As of 2024, TikTok had been downloaded approximately 4.7 billion times—roughly half of the global population—solidifying its role as a dominant player in shaping trends, including in the world of books.
BookTok’s Influence
BookTok, a subcommunity in TikTok, is a major platform that has contributed to the impressive awareness of books in Africa. The popular hashtag BookTok has been used 44.9 million times with over 30 billion views as of January 2025 making BookTok a new digital way to find books to read. While studies have been done on the influence of BookTok in Malaysia, Sweden and the Arab world, there is no concrete research on how BookTok is changing the trajectory of African literature.
A Paradigm Shift
Social media continues to play a significant role in causing paradigm shifts not only to freedom of expression and influencing public opinion but also in the writing industry, especially African literature. For decades, it seemed as though the African continent lacked “good” books to publish or read as most African authors would be bestsellers in the diaspora. In addition, most books you’d find walking on the streets of Nairobi, case in point, are second-hand or pirated novels not written by Africans. The article 'We have incredible African content to share with the world': Reflections from Frankfurt opened up conversations on the renaissance and consumption of African literature. Renaissance is an ambiguous term in the case of this zealous consumption of African literature; as one literary journalist describes it as inchoate, a burgeoning literary transformation that BookTok is helping to accelerate.
Challenging Stereotypes
Inaccurate generalizations have been propagated against Africans and their consumption of books. A controversial saying that persists to this day to describe the state of literacy and critical thinking of the African people, let alone the millions of graduates in the continent, is that if you want to hide something from an African, put it in a book. This notion stems from colonial roots, where Africans inherited rote learning instead of critical thinking. Thus, reading after school was not enjoyable. For many, even today, reading was framed as a chore—one necessary for academic success rather than pleasure. However, the rise of BookTok is helping to dismantle this stereotype by fostering a culture of voluntary and enthusiastic reading. With this new community of book lovers across the globe, short-form video content allows audiences to enjoy book reviews that usually feature in newspapers in dramatized forms or using still photos to introduce books. The TikTok algorithm works to customise users’ feeds based on their interactions, meaning book-related content reaches highly engaged readers who might not have sought out books in traditional ways. So, if you don’t enjoy all the dancing, you can jump to this wonderful world of books.
Leveraging BookTok
The rise of BookTok has also seen the rise of bookfluencers. These are people who do book recommendations and reviews on TikTok. Chi, as she popularly calls herself on TikTok, is a Bookfluencer whose TikTok page receives a lot of engagement from the aesthetic content she posts about African books. With over 26,000 followers and 1.3 million likes, pages like hers show the demand for African stories, especially those of Nigerian origin. That’s over 1.3 million eyes engaging with African authors and books! From long novellas to short weekend reads to rest your eyes from “doom-scrolling” or staring at your computer screen all week long, bookfluencers are championing reading for pleasure, expanding the reach of African literature beyond conventional publishing spaces.
Why then should self-published authors leverage BookTok? The answer is simple, and it lies in the demand for representation of African perspectives. It lies in the identity and mindset shift of young people who are taking charge of their lived realities and looking for them in books that share the same.
Bookstores have also not been left behind. Masobe books, according to this Guardian article, Africa has no shortage of celebrated writers – so why is it so hard for African readers to get hold of their books? | Global development | The Guardian, attest that their success in penetrating the Nigerian market has been because of the stories in the books they produce—emphasising that they are stories about people who lived in Nigeria, worked in Nigeria and ate Nigerian food. Others like Soma Nami in Kenya are also attracting young readers and authors to further promote discussions around Kenyan and African books. The lively, even controversial, public discussions and intellectual exchange about the themes and merits of books that are frowned upon in “high society” or even classrooms, as was seen in the dark days of colonialism and the immediate post-colonial period, are happening on BookTok and this is why it works! The localization of literature has shifted from “high art” standards and sophisticated English, to representation, relatability and the use of “ordinary” language like Kenyanese or Pidgin; this is what makes such avenues effective.
As African literature continues to grow, BookTok has the potential to be a game-changer, by providing visibility, accessibility, and community-driven engagement for books that might otherwise go unnoticed. With its rapid growth and influence, the future of African storytelling in the digital age looks promising.
A changing literary landscape
BookTok is redefining the landscape of African literature, bridging the gap between authors and readers in ways previously unimaginable. While its impact in Africa remains underexplored in academic research, its influence is undeniable—reshaping reading habits, amplifying underrepresented voices, and challenging outdated stereotypes about literacy on the continent. As young African readers and bookfluencers continue to drive literary conversations online, the publishing industry stands at the cusp of a digital revolution—one that prioritizes accessibility, relatability, and storytelling rooted in African realities.
If you’re interested in collaborating on research about BookTok’s impact on African literature, reach out to Books in Africa. The conversation is just beginning.
Tracy Ochieng is a staff writer with Books in Africa. Email: tracy.ochieng@ekitabu.com
BookTok is all the rage, turning African literature upside down
For young people between the ages of 18 and 30, it is highly plausible that the books on their shelves have been influenced by BookTok. Once dismissed as a platform for trivial dance and music videos, TikTok has evolved into a powerful force in the social media landscape, joining the ranks of Meta's giants. As of 2024, TikTok had been downloaded approximately 4.7 billion times—roughly half of the global population—solidifying its role as a dominant player in shaping trends, including in the world of books.
BookTok’s Influence
BookTok, a subcommunity in TikTok, is a major platform that has contributed to the impressive awareness of books in Africa. The popular hashtag BookTok has been used 44.9 million times with over 30 billion views as of January 2025 making BookTok a new digital way to find books to read. While studies have been done on the influence of BookTok in Malaysia, Sweden and the Arab world, there is no concrete research on how BookTok is changing the trajectory of African literature.
A Paradigm Shift
Social media continues to play a significant role in causing paradigm shifts not only to freedom of expression and influencing public opinion but also in the writing industry, especially African literature. For decades, it seemed as though the African continent lacked “good” books to publish or read as most African authors would be bestsellers in the diaspora. In addition, most books you’d find walking on the streets of Nairobi, case in point, are second-hand or pirated novels not written by Africans. The article 'We have incredible African content to share with the world': Reflections from Frankfurt opened up conversations on the renaissance and consumption of African literature. Renaissance is an ambiguous term in the case of this zealous consumption of African literature; as one literary journalist describes it as inchoate, a burgeoning literary transformation that BookTok is helping to accelerate.
Challenging Stereotypes
Inaccurate generalizations have been propagated against Africans and their consumption of books. A controversial saying that persists to this day to describe the state of literacy and critical thinking of the African people, let alone the millions of graduates in the continent, is that if you want to hide something from an African, put it in a book. This notion stems from colonial roots, where Africans inherited rote learning instead of critical thinking. Thus, reading after school was not enjoyable. For many, even today, reading was framed as a chore—one necessary for academic success rather than pleasure. However, the rise of BookTok is helping to dismantle this stereotype by fostering a culture of voluntary and enthusiastic reading. With this new community of book lovers across the globe, short-form video content allows audiences to enjoy book reviews that usually feature in newspapers in dramatized forms or using still photos to introduce books. The TikTok algorithm works to customise users’ feeds based on their interactions, meaning book-related content reaches highly engaged readers who might not have sought out books in traditional ways. So, if you don’t enjoy all the dancing, you can jump to this wonderful world of books.
Leveraging BookTok
The rise of BookTok has also seen the rise of bookfluencers. These are people who do book recommendations and reviews on TikTok. Chi, as she popularly calls herself on TikTok, is a Bookfluencer whose TikTok page receives a lot of engagement from the aesthetic content she posts about African books. With over 26,000 followers and 1.3 million likes, pages like hers show the demand for African stories, especially those of Nigerian origin. That’s over 1.3 million eyes engaging with African authors and books! From long novellas to short weekend reads to rest your eyes from “doom-scrolling” or staring at your computer screen all week long, bookfluencers are championing reading for pleasure, expanding the reach of African literature beyond conventional publishing spaces.
Why then should self-published authors leverage BookTok? The answer is simple, and it lies in the demand for representation of African perspectives. It lies in the identity and mindset shift of young people who are taking charge of their lived realities and looking for them in books that share the same.
Bookstores have also not been left behind. Masobe books, according to this Guardian article, Africa has no shortage of celebrated writers – so why is it so hard for African readers to get hold of their books? | Global development | The Guardian, attest that their success in penetrating the Nigerian market has been because of the stories in the books they produce—emphasising that they are stories about people who lived in Nigeria, worked in Nigeria and ate Nigerian food. Others like Soma Nami in Kenya are also attracting young readers and authors to further promote discussions around Kenyan and African books. The lively, even controversial, public discussions and intellectual exchange about the themes and merits of books that are frowned upon in “high society” or even classrooms, as was seen in the dark days of colonialism and the immediate post-colonial period, are happening on BookTok and this is why it works! The localization of literature has shifted from “high art” standards and sophisticated English, to representation, relatability and the use of “ordinary” language like Kenyanese or Pidgin; this is what makes such avenues effective.
As African literature continues to grow, BookTok has the potential to be a game-changer, by providing visibility, accessibility, and community-driven engagement for books that might otherwise go unnoticed. With its rapid growth and influence, the future of African storytelling in the digital age looks promising.
A changing literary landscape
BookTok is redefining the landscape of African literature, bridging the gap between authors and readers in ways previously unimaginable. While its impact in Africa remains underexplored in academic research, its influence is undeniable—reshaping reading habits, amplifying underrepresented voices, and challenging outdated stereotypes about literacy on the continent. As young African readers and bookfluencers continue to drive literary conversations online, the publishing industry stands at the cusp of a digital revolution—one that prioritizes accessibility, relatability, and storytelling rooted in African realities.
If you’re interested in collaborating on research about BookTok’s impact on African literature, reach out to Books in Africa. The conversation is just beginning.
Tracy Ochieng is a staff writer with Books in Africa. Email: tracy.ochieng@ekitabu.com
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